• Peng Jin, Hai-Ling Yu, Tian-Lan College of Medicine, Yanbian University, Park Street 977, Yanji, 133002 Jilin, PR China., Feng Zhang, and Zhe-Shan Quan.
• Key Laboratory of Natural Resources and Functional Molecules of the Changbai Mountain, Affiliated Ministry of Education, Yanbian University College of Pharmacy, Yanji 133000, PR China; Department of Pharmacology, Ischemic/Hypoxic Disease Institute, Cancer Research Institute, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Yongon-dong 28, Chongno-gu, Seoul 110-799, Republic of Korea; Department of Biomedical Science, Ischemic/Hypoxic Disease Institute, Cancer Research Institute, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Yongon-dong 28, Chongno-gu, Seoul 110-799, Republic of Korea.
• Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. 2015 Jun 1; 133: 146-54.

AbstractOleoylethanolamide (OEA) is an endocannabinoid analog that belongs to a family of endogenous acylethanolamides. Increasing evidence suggests that OEA may act as an endogenous neuroprotective factor and participate in the control of mental disorder-related behaviors. In this study, we examined whether OEA is effective against depression and investigated the role of circulating endogenous acylethanolamides during stress. Mice were subjected to 28days of chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS), and during the last 21days, treated with oral OEA (1.5-6mg/kg) or 6mg/kg fluoxetine. Sucrose preference and open field test activity were used to evaluate depression-like behaviors during CUMS and after OEA treatment. Weights of the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus were determined, and the adrenal index was measured. Furthermore, changes in serum adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), corticosterone (CORT) and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and lipid peroxidation product malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex were detected. Our findings indicate that OEA normalized sucrose preferences, locomotion distances, rearing frequencies, prefrontal cortex and hippocampal atrophy, and adrenal indices. In addition, OEA reversed the abnormalities of BDNF and MDA levels and SOD activities in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, as well as changes in serum levels of ACTH, CORT, and T-AOC. The antidepressant effects of OEA may be related to the regulation of BDNF levels in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, antioxidant defenses, and normalizing hyperactivity in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA).Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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