Oleoyl ethanolamide-d₂(OEA-d₂) contains two deuterium atoms at the 11 position. It is intended for use as an internal standard for the quantification of OEA by GC-or LC-mass spectrometry. OEA is an analogue of the endocannabinoid arachidonoyl ethanolamide (AEA) found in brain tissue and in chocolate.¹It is one of the long chain fatty acid ethanolamides that accumulates rapidly in infarcted tissue,²but its biosynthesis is reduced in the intestine of rats following food deprivation.³OEA is an endogenous, potent agonist for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα), exhibiting an EC₅₀value of 120 nM in a transactivation assay.⁴Systemic administration of OEA suppresses food intake and reduces weight gain in rats (10 mg/kg intraperitoneally) and PPARα wild-type mice, but not in PPARα knockout mice.^3,4These data indicate that OEA regulates food intake by a PPARα-mediated mechanism.

1.di Tomaso, E., Beltramo, M., and Piomelli, D.Brain cannabinoids in chocolateNature382677-678(1996) 2.Epps, D.E., Palmer, J.W., Schmid, H.H.O., et al.Inhibition of permeability-dependent Ca2+ release from mitochondria by N-acelethanolamines, a class of lipids synthesized in ischemic heart tissueThe Journal of Biological Chemisty2571383-1392(1982) 3.de Fonseca, F.R., Navarro, M., GÓmez, R., et al.An anorexic lipid mediator regulated by feedingNature414209-212(2001) 4.Fu, J., Gaetani, S., Oveisi, F., et al.Oleylethanolamide regulates feeding and body weight through activation of the nuclear receptor PPAR-αNature42590-93(2003)