History

Palmitoylethanolamide has been studied for nearly 70 years. This timeline lists only the points this site has checked against a source.

Timeline

1957. Palmitoylethanolamide is identified in egg yolk, soybean and peanut oil. The work followed reports that a component of egg yolk had effects in a guinea pig model of joint allergy.
1965. It is found in mammalian tissues. It is now known to be made by the body.
Twentieth century. Six clinical trials in influenza and the common cold are published, in nearly 4,000 people in total. See Keppel Hesselink 2013.
1993. The group of the Nobel laureate Rita Levi-Montalcini proposes a mechanism of action. Research then turns to nerve pain and mast cell disorders.
2005. Lo Verme and colleagues show that it activates the PPAR-alpha receptor. See PPAR-alpha.
2007. It is reported to act on the GPR55 receptor.
2008. The ATOPA study reports on a palmitoylethanolamide skin cream in 2,456 people with eczema. See Eberlein 2008.
2016. An independent review counts 16 clinical trials in pain and judges their quality to be variable. See Gabrielsson 2016.
Late 2019. Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration approves it as an ingredient in listed medicines. See Australia.
2023. A meta-analysis pools 11 double-blind trials in chronic pain. See Lang-Illievich 2023.
2024. Australia adds a Schedule 6 entry with exemptions for therapeutic and low-dose cosmetic use.
2025. A systematic review counts 47 randomised trials in patients. See Bortoletto 2025.

Rankin and Fowler 2020 for 1957, 1965, 2005 and 2007. The linked study pages for the rest.