Cytotoxic effects of Oleoyl ethanolamide in cancer cells

Cancer is a very important disease with high lethality both in our country and worldwide. Although there are many types of cancer, lung cancer is in the first two places especially as a cause of death and is more common among man than women. Genetic and environmental factors are known to cause to cancer. Among the causes of lung cancer, tobacco use is one of the most important environmental factors. Chemotherapy remains one of the current treatments for lung cancer. Drug resistance that develops over time in cancer treatment leads scientists to investigate new agents. Oleoyl ethanolamide (OEA) is an endogenous lipid mediator and acid ceramidase inhibitor. Ceramidases are a group of enzymes that significantly affect cell life and hydrolyze ceramide to sphingosine. Inhibition of acid ceramidase is known to induce ceramide accumulation in cancer cells, creating cytotoxic effects and triggering apoptosis. In our study, the cytotoxic effects, morphological and fine structural changes of Oleoyl ethanolamide, a acid ceramidase inhibitör, on the human lung cancer cell line (A549) and the human normal cell line (Beas-2B) were investigated.