Faculty of Psychology, Chair of Biological Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
Faculty of Psychology, Chair of Biological Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
Biol Psychol. 2023 Mar;178:108541. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2023.108541. Epub 2023 Mar 12.
The endocannabinoid system is considered to play a role in a wide range of functions, including stress. Hair analysis of endocannabinoids presents a promising methodological advancement for the retrospective assessment of long-term cumulative endocannabinoid secretion. Despite promising pilot study results suggesting the usefulness of hair endocannabinoid assessments, it remains unclear whether hair endocannabinoid levels mirror systemic endocannabinoid levels accurately. Two independent studies were conducted to investigate to what extent hair endocannabinoid and N-Acylethanolamine levels reflect the systemic levels retrospectively. Endocannabinoid and N-Acylethanolamine levels were measured in 3 cm and 1 cm hair segments respectively, and compared with the averaged levels in multiple plasma samples collected during three months (Study I), and in multiple 24-hour urine samples collected over a month (Study II). In addition, the Perceived Stress Scale was used to assess the perceived stress throughout the studies. Against our hypothesis, no association was found between the endocannabinoid or N-Acylethanolamine levels in hair and plasma or urine. However, hair palmitoylethanolamide (PEA), oleoylethanolamide (OEA), and stearoylethanolamide (SEA) levels were positively correlated with perceived stress in Study I. The current findings suggest that hair endocannabinoid or N-Acylethanolamine levels might not accurately reflect the levels of peripheral circulating endocannabinoid or N-Acylethanolamine. Nevertheless, hair N-Acylethanolamine levels might emerge as a useful strategy in the study of some psychological phenotypes, such as stress.
内源性大麻素系统被认为在广泛的功能中发挥作用，包括应激。内源性大麻素的毛发分析为回顾性评估长期累积内源性大麻素分泌提供了一种有前途的方法学进展。尽管有有希望的初步研究结果表明毛发内源性大麻素评估的有用性，但仍然不清楚毛发内源性大麻素水平是否准确反映系统内源性大麻素水平。进行了两项独立的研究，以调查毛发内源性大麻素和 N-酰基乙醇胺水平在多大程度上准确反映系统水平。分别测量了 3cm 和 1cm 毛发段中的内源性大麻素和 N-酰基乙醇胺水平，并将其与三个月内收集的多个血浆样本的平均水平（研究 I）以及一个月内收集的多个 24 小时尿液样本的平均水平（研究 II）进行比较。此外，还使用感知压力量表评估了整个研究期间的感知压力。与我们的假设相反，毛发中的内源性大麻素或 N-酰基乙醇胺水平与血浆或尿液中的内源性大麻素或 N-酰基乙醇胺水平之间没有发现关联。然而，在研究 I 中，毛发棕榈酰乙醇胺（PEA）、油酰乙醇胺（OEA）和硬脂酰乙醇胺（SEA）水平与感知压力呈正相关。目前的研究结果表明，毛发内源性大麻素或 N-酰基乙醇胺水平可能无法准确反映外周循环内源性大麻素或 N-酰基乙醇胺的水平。然而，毛发 N-酰基乙醇胺水平可能成为研究某些心理表型（如应激）的有用策略。
