Palmitoylethanolamide for the treatment of pain: pharmacokinetics, safety and efficacy
ReviewHumans
- Design
- Review
- Subjects
- 16 clinical trials, 6 case reports or pilot studies and 1 meta-analysis
- What was measured
- A critical review of the claim that palmitoylethanolamide relieves pain without unwanted effects, covering safety, trial quality, pharmacokinetics and formulation
What the authors reported
The authors concluded that for treatment of up to 49 days, the data argue against serious adverse reactions at a rate of 1 in 200 or more. For treatment beyond 60 days, too few patients had been studied to rule out a rate below 1 in 100. They judged the six randomised trials to be of variable quality. They found no head-to-head comparison of micronised and unmicronised forms, so no evidence that one is better. They concluded that the data support a pain-relieving action and justify further study.
Limits of this study
The review covers the literature to 2016, and many trials have been published since. It was written by independent academic pharmacologists. The entry was checked against the abstract only.
Source
Entry checked against the abstract and citation held by Crossref, the DOI registry on 2026-09-21. The dose shown is the dose the researchers used. It is not a recommendation. How to read this page.