Anti-inflammatory, Antioxidant and Crystallographic Studies of N-palmitoyl-ethanol amine (PEA) derivatives

The anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties of a small library of N-palmitoyl-ethanolamine (PEA) analogues, which are characterized by a protected acid function useful to decreased their hydrolysis rate in a living system and prolong their biological activity, have been studied. PEA, an anti-inflammatory component of egg yolk, is wellknown to be employed as preventive for respiratory apparatus virus infection and then frequently used for its efficient anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects in experimental models. As a matter of fact data inherent its use in animals or humans therapy are still scarce. Finally, the crystal structure of one of the most active analogues, i.e.the phenyl-carbamic acid hexadecyl ester, has been solved.