fig1

Figure 1. Acetaminophen undergoes deacetylation in the liver (grey) by acylamidase and N-deacetylase to yield p-aminophenol. P-aminophenol is distributed through the cardiovascular system (white/grey) to the central nervous system (CNS) (white). In the CNS, p-aminophenol is conjugated to arachidonic acid by fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) to yield AM404. FAAH also breaks down anandamide to arachidonic acid and ethanolamine. The catabolic activity of FAAH on anandamide is counterbalanced by N-acyl phosphatidylethanolamine phospholipase D (NAPE-PLD), which re-synthesizes anandamide from arachidonic acid and ethanolamine