Phosphorylethanolamine or phosphoethanolamine is an
ethanolamine
Ethanolamine (2-aminoethanol, monoethanolamine, ETA, or MEA) is an organic chemical compound with the formula or . The molecule is bifunctional, containing both a primary amine and a primary alcohol. Ethanolamine is a colorless, viscous liquid wit ...
derivative that is used to construct two different categories of phospholipids. One category termed a
glycerophospholipid and the other a
sphingomyelin
Sphingomyelin (SPH, ˌsfɪŋɡoˈmaɪəlɪn) is a type of sphingolipid found in animal cell membranes, especially in the membranous myelin sheath that surrounds some nerve cell axons. It usually consists of phosphocholine and ceramide, or a ethano ...
, or more specifically within the sphingomyelin class, a
sphingophospholipid
Sphingomyelin (SPH, ˌsfɪŋɡoˈmaɪəlɪn) is a type of sphingolipid found in animal cell membranes, especially in the membranous myelin sheath that surrounds some nerve cell axons. It usually consists of phosphocholine and ceramide, or a phos ...
. Phosphorylethanolamine is a
polyprotic acid
In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...
with two pKa values at 5.61 and 10.39.
Phosphorylethanolamine has been falsely promoted as a
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
treatment.
[
]
Effectiveness
As a potential drug, phosphorylethanolamine has undergone human clinical trials. These were halted when no evidence of benefit was found.[
]
Legality
There has been ongoing controversy and litigation in Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
with regard to its use as a cancer treatment without approval by the National Health Surveillance Agency. For years, Gilberto Chierice, a Chemistry Professor at the São Carlos
São Carlos (Saint Charles, in English, ; named after Saint Charles Borromeo) is a Brazilian municipality in the interior of the state of São Paulo, 254 kilometers from the city of São Paulo. With a population of 254,484 inhabitants, it is th ...
campus of the University of São Paulo
The University of São Paulo ( pt, Universidade de São Paulo, USP) is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian public university and the country's most prestigious educational institution, the best ...
, used resources from a campus laboratory to unofficially manufacture, distribute, and promote the drug to cancer patients without it having gone through clinical testing. In September 2015, university administrators began preventing the Professor from continuing with this practice. In October 2015, several courts in Brazil ruled in favor of plaintiffs who wanted the right to try the compound. However, a state court overturned the lower courts' decision a month later. Jailson Bittencourt de Andrade, secretary for Brazil's science and technology ministry, said the ministry plans to fund further research on the compound, but that it will be years before a determination can be made about phosphorylethanolamine's safety and efficacy in humans.
On April 14, 2016, a law was passed in Brazil allowing the use of synthetic phosphorylethanolamine for cancer treatment, despite opposition from the Brazilian Medical Association The Brazilian Medical Association ( pt, Associação Médica Brasileira) founded in 1951, is the national class association of physicians in Brazil. With more than 140,000 associates, it is the second largest in the Americas, just after the American ...
, the Brazilian Society of Clinical Oncology, and the regulatory agency Anvisa
Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency ( pt, Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária, links=no, italics=yes, ''Anvisa'', literally National Health Surveillance Agency) is a regulatory body of the Brazilian government, created in 1999 during Presi ...
. However, shortly after, the country's Supreme Court suspended the law.
See also
* Phosphocholine
Phosphocholine is an intermediate in the synthesis of phosphatidylcholine in tissues. Phosphocholine is made in a reaction, catalyzed by choline kinase, that converts ATP and choline into phosphocholine and ADP. Phosphocholine is a molecule ...
* Phosphoserine
References
Additional images
Image:Phosphate Group.PNG, Phosphate
In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid .
The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phospho ...
Image:Ethanolamine.png, Ethanolamine
Ethanolamine (2-aminoethanol, monoethanolamine, ETA, or MEA) is an organic chemical compound with the formula or . The molecule is bifunctional, containing both a primary amine and a primary alcohol. Ethanolamine is a colorless, viscous liquid wit ...
{{Authority control
Amines
Organophosphates
Health fraud