Fig. 1: Anandamide (AEA) induces airway relaxation via fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) in mouse trachea ex vivo.
From: The endocannabinoid anandamide is an airway relaxant in health and disease
a Original trace of isometric force measurements in a myograph demonstrates strong tone decrease of tracheal ring from C57BL/6J mouse by a single dose of AEA (10 µM). b Original trace of isometric force measurements shows no effect by application of the solvent ethanol (EtOH). c Statistical analysis of airway tone in response to AEA indicates that AEA (n = 5) evokes relaxation independent from CB1 and CB2 receptors (Cnr1/Cnr2−/−, n = 9); URB597 (URB, 1 µM, n = 6), methanandamide (Met-AEA, 10 µM, n = 5); (EtOH, n = 7, FAAH−/−, n = 8). Measurements were performed in independent samples. One way ANOVA, Tukey’s post hoc test (AEA vs EtOH ***p = 4.8 × 10−12; AEA vs URB ***p = 1.1 × 10−11; AEA vs FAAH−/− ***p = 1.6 × 10−11; AEA vs Met-AEA ***p = 1.5 × 10−10). d Dose response curves of AEA from trachea of C57BL/6J mice (n = 6 independent samples) show that the AEA-dependent airway relaxation is dose-dependent. e Statistical analysis of isometric force measurements demonstrates that the extent of airway relaxation by AEA (10 µM) is different in tracheas with and without epithelium in C57BL/6J mice (+n = 5, −n = 6 independent samples), unpaired two-tailed Student’s t test **p = 0.0012. f Immunostaining reveals FAAH expression in epithelial as well as smooth muscle cells of C57BL/6J mouse trachea (red = FAAH, green = alpha smooth muscle actin, staining was performed twice), scale bar = 20 µm. c–e) Data are presented as mean values ± SEM. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
