L. M. Kalynska¹, G. V. Kosiakova², N. M. Gula²

¹Komisarenko Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism,
National Academy Medical of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv;
²Palladin Institute of Biochemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv;
e-mail: ngula@biochem.kiev.ua; iem_admi@bigmir.net

The influence of saturated N-acylethanolamine – N-stearoylethanolamine (NSE) on the activity of angiotensine-converting enzyme (ACE) in the brain structures of rats with streptozotocine-induced diabetes was studied. It was shown that decreased activity of ACE was observed in the hypothalamus, increased – in the anterior pituitary. The NSE suspension administration to rats with experimental diabetes in a dose 50 mg/kg of body weight during 10 days caused a decrease in ACE activity in the anterior pituitary, whereas in the hypothalamus and hippocampus ACE activi­ty did not change significantly. At the same time, introduction of NSE to intact animals led to the reduction of activity of ACE in the hippocampus, anterior pituitary and blood plasma. It is known that the highest amount of ACE in the brain structures is located in the membrane-bound state. Thus, the changes we have found in the activity of ACE in the control rats and in animals with induced diabetes may be related to the ability of NSE to the modulation of cell membranes lipid profile. Changes in the activity of ACE under the action of N-acylethanolamines may be one of the mechanisms for implementation of anti-hypertensive and anti-inflammatory action of these compounds.