What the experiment established
Cravatt and colleagues isolated, cloned and expressed an enzyme from rat liver membranes. It broke down oleamide and also anandamide, supporting the name fatty-acid amide hydrolase, or FAAH. This supplied a molecular tool for studying how those signaling compounds are inactivated. Original paper.
What it did not test
This was biochemical research, not a trial of a treatment in people. Identifying an enzyme and its substrates does not establish the clinical benefit or safety of inhibiting it. The finding is a step in understanding endocannabinoid signaling; conclusions about a particular drug require separate evidence.
Read the original research
Molecular characterization of an enzyme that degrades neuromodulatory fatty-acid amides.
Nature
Citation
B F Cravatt; D K Giang; S P Mayfield; D L Boger; R A Lerner; N B Gilula. (1996). Molecular characterization of an enzyme that degrades neuromodulatory fatty-acid amides.. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/384083a0