Mammalian Fatty Acid Amides of the Brain and CNS

Fatty acid amides have emerged as an intriguing family of diverse, mammalian neuroactive lipids. Herein, we review the current state of our knowledge about the individual classes of fatty acid amides: which ones have been identified and characterized from mammals, their receptors, their functions, and the pathways for their biosynthesis and degradation. Much remains to be elucidated regarding this family of molecules and we hope that our review stimulates additional research in the fatty acid amide field. We also show that there are extensive metabolic connections between the different classess of fatty acid amides. Such metabolic connections hint at novel modes of regulation as one fatty acid amide is converted to another and suggests that the enzymes involved in fatty acid amide metabolism are not simply enzymes of biosynthesis or degradation, but also serve important regulatory functions.