Antidepressant Medication Does Not Contribute to the Elevated Circulating Concentrations of Acylethanolamides Found in Substance Use Disorder Patients

Jesús Herrera-Imbroda, María Flores-López, Nerea Requena-Ocaña, Pedro Araos, Nuria García-Marchena, Jessica Ropero, Antonio Bordallo, Juan Suarez, Francisco J Pavón-Morón, Antonia Serrano, Fermín Mayoral, Fernando Rodríguez de Fonseca. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Sep 30;24(19):14788.

Observational studyHumans

Design

Observational study

Subjects

333 abstinent substance use disorder patients and 175 healthy controls

Dose used in the study

Not applicable; palmitoylethanolamide was measured in plasma, not given

Duration

Not stated in the abstract

What was measured

Plasma acylethanolamide concentrations by SSRI antidepressant treatment status.

What the authors reported

This observational study found:

• Substance use disorder patients had higher plasma acylethanolamides than controls, as reported previously, and SSRI treatment did not further change this.
• Only marginal increases in PEA, OEA and DEA were found, with a very small net effect.
• SSRIs do not affect the use of acylethanolamides as biomarkers of substance use disorder, the authors conclude.

Limits of this study

A cross-sectional biomarker study; it cannot show cause or any effect of taking PEA. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Source

PubMed 37834235 · doi:10.3390/ijms241914788

Entry checked against the abstract on PubMed on 2026-09-22. The dose shown is the dose the researchers used. It is not a recommendation. How to read this page.