Drug discoveryIn the fields of medicine, biotechnology and pharmacology, drug discovery is the process by which new candidate medications are discovered. Historically, drugs were discovered by identifying the active ingredient from traditional remedies or by serendipitous discovery, as with penicillin. More recently, chemical libraries of synthetic small molecules, natural products or extracts were screened in intact cells or whole organisms to identify substances that had a desirable therapeutic effect in a process known as classical pharmacology.
Lipid metabolismLipid metabolism is the synthesis and degradation of lipids in cells, involving the breakdown and storage of fats for energy and the synthesis of structural and functional lipids, such as those involved in the construction of cell membranes. In animals, these fats are obtained from food and are synthesized by the liver. Lipogenesis is the process of synthesizing these fats. The majority of lipids found in the human body from ingesting food are triglycerides and cholesterol.
LipoxinA lipoxin (LX or Lx), an acronym for lipoxygenase interaction product, is a bioactive autacoid metabolite of arachidonic acid made by various cell types. They are categorized as nonclassic eicosanoids and members of the specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPMs) family of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) metabolites. Like other SPMs, LXs form during, and then act to resolve, inflammatory responses. Initially, two lipoxins were identified, lipoxin A4 (LXA4) and LXB4, but more recent studies have identified epimers of these two LXs: the epi-lipoxins, 15-epi-LXA4 and 15-epi-LXB4 respectively.
EthanolamineEthanolamine (2-aminoethanol, monoethanolamine, ETA, or MEA) is an organic chemical compound with the formula HOCH2CH2NH2 or C2H7NO. The molecule is bifunctional, containing both a primary amine and a primary alcohol. Ethanolamine is a colorless, viscous liquid with an odor reminiscent of ammonia. ETA molecules are a component in the formation of cellular membranes and are thus a molecular building block for life. It was thought to exist only on Earth and on certain asteroids, but in 2021 evidence was found that ETA molecules exist in interstellar space.
AmidaseIn enzymology, an amidase (, acylamidase, acylase (misleading), amidohydrolase (ambiguous), deaminase (ambiguous), fatty acylamidase, N-acetylaminohydrolase (ambiguous)) is an enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of an amide. In this way, the two substrates of this enzyme are an amide and H2O, whereas its two products are monocarboxylate and NH3. This enzyme belongs to the family of hydrolases, those acting on carbon-nitrogen bonds other than peptide bonds, specifically in linear amides.
CannabidiolCannabidiol (CBD) is a phytocannabinoid discovered in 1940. It is one of 113 identified cannabinoids in cannabis plants, along with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and accounts for up to 40% of the plant's extract. , clinical research on CBD included studies related to anxiety, cognition, movement disorders, and pain, but there is insufficient high-quality evidence that cannabidiol is effective for these conditions. Nevertheless, CBD is a herbal dietary supplement promoted with unproven claims of particular therapeutic effects.
