Analogous modulation of inflammatory responses by the endocannabinoid system in periodontal ligament cells and microglia
Laboratory studyHumansOther animals
- Design
- Laboratory study
- Subjects
- A human periodontal ligament cell line and an embryonic stem cell-derived microglia cell line, 6 experimental groups each
- Dose used in the study
- Anandamide 50 micromolar or palmitoylethanolamide 50 micromolar in culture, with centrifugation-induced inflammation
- Duration
- 6 and 10 hours
- What was measured
- Gene expression of inflammatory cytokines, cannabinoid receptors and IBA-1; cell morphology; proliferation.
What the authors reported
Anandamide countered the morphological changes caused by inflammation and cut inflammatory gene expression more than 100-fold. Palmitoylethanolamide did the opposite: it worsened the morphological changes, further raised inflammatory gene expression, and reinforced the loss of proliferation, reducing cell numbers to 0.05-fold in ligament cells and 0.025-fold in microglia compared with controls.
Limits of this study
A cell-culture study; it cannot show any effect in people. In this model PEA increased, not decreased, inflammatory responses, which differs from most reports. The authors declare no competing interests.
Source
PubMed 33190638 · doi:10.1186/s13005-020-00244-0
Entry checked against the abstract on PubMed on 2026-09-22. The dose shown is the dose the researchers used. It is not a recommendation. How to read this page.