Novel natural and synthetic ligands of the endocannabinoid system.

In this review we describe recent advances in the chemistry of novel CB(1)/CB(2) agonists, CB(1) antagonists, selective CB(2) agonists, fatty acid amide hydrolase inibitors, monoglyceride (MGL) and diglyceride (DAGL) inhibitors and cannabinoid-type agonists and antagonists of non CB(1)/CB(2) receptors. In view of recent interest in the activities of fatty acid amides of amino acids (N-acyl amino acids) a list of this type of compounds was compiled and is presented as a Table. We conclude that further synthetic work based on both the plant cannabinoids and on the endocannabinoids may lead to novel therapeutics and that the identification and the elucidation of the biological profile of the myriad of endogenous N-acyl amino acids and related compounds may enhance the already wide spectrum of lipidomics.