State of the Art Review: Thiazide Diuretics Exploit the Endocannabinoid System via NAPE-PLD

The present State of the Art Review will take stock of targeting the endocannabinoid system (ECS) in the management of hypertension and vascular diseases. Major efforts have been made in the last thirty years to develop compounds modulating the ECS for diseases, both in the central and peripheral tissues. Agonists of the cannabinoid receptor CB1 elicited hypotension but were at strong risks of inducing tachycardia, heart and kidney damage. The clinical translation of CB2 agonists, as well as antiobesity CB1 blockers, proposed as promising treatments for cardiovascular risk factors, was complicated by adverse side effects. Inhibitors of the membrane enzyme fatty acid amide hydrolase that degrades the endocannabinoid anandamide normalized elevated blood pressure, at least in hypertensive rats. The turning point came when we discovered the phospholipase NAPE-PLD as a systemic target of thiazide diuretics, revealing physicians have indeed targeted the ECS for over sixty years in clinics, unknowingly. The membrane-associated target promotes diuretic effect through its internal channel and generates at the same time anandamide and other lipid signaling amides that exert marked protective actions, useful for the chronic treatment of hypertension. Results have extended our knowledge of the mechanism of thiazide medications, rationalizing both their acute and chronic therapeutic effects. The stabilization of NAPE-PLD by chemical agents that bind to the thiazide-binding site is efficacious in the treatment of hypertension and vascular resistance, providing a validated approach in clinics for the ECS modulation in human diseases associated with neurovascular alterations.