a2-Adrenergic receptors (a2-ARs) respond to norepinephrine and epinephrine to mediate diverse physiological effects. Using in situ hybridization, the expression pattern of the mRNA encoding the three a2-AR subtypes (a2A, a2B, and a2C) was examined in the mouse embryo. The mRNA encoding the three subtypes was first detected at stage 9.5 days postcoitus (d.p.c.) for the a2A-AR (coincident with no...

Adenosine receptors (ARs) have an important role in the regulation of inflammation and their activation is involved in the inhibition of pro-inflammatory cytokine release. The effects of pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMFs) on inflammation have been reported and we have demonstrated that PEMFs increased A2A and A3AR density and functionality in different cell lines. Chondrocytes and osteoblast...

Caffeine is the most consumed psychoactive drug in the world. It is a non-selective adenosine receptor antagonist that in the brain targets mainly adenosine A1 and A2A receptors. The same as classical psychostimulants, caffeine produces motor-activating, reinforcing and arousing effects. This depends on the ability of caffeine to counteract multiple effects of adenosine in the central ascending...

Drug-induced tremulous jaw movements in rats have been used as a model of parkinsonian tremor. Because adenosine A2A antagonists have antiparkinsonian effects, the present experiments were conducted to study the ability of adenosine A2A antagonism to reverse the tremulous jaw movements produced by the antipsychotic drugs pimozide, haloperidol and reserpine. In one group of studies, rats receive...

Adenosine 2a (A2a) receptor agonists elicit persistent increases in phrenic nerve activity by transactivating the neurotrophin receptor, TrkB, near phrenic motoneurons. Our working model proposes that A2a receptor-mediated TrkB receptor activation strengthens glutamatergic synapses onto phrenic motoneurons. Activation of glutamate N-methyl d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors has been implicated in oth...

Non-dopaminergic drugs acting either on adenosine A2A or metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptors reduce motor impairment in animal models of Parkinson's disease (PD), suggesting a possible functional interaction between these receptors to regulate basal ganglia function. The present study therefore tested the behavioural effects of compounds acting selectively on A2A or on specific mGlu recepto...

Adenosine vasoconstricts preglomerular arterioles via adenosine A1 receptors. Because adenosine also activates adenosine A2 receptors, its overall renal vascular actions are complex and not fully understood. The present study was performed to determine the relative contributions of adenosine A1 and A2a receptors to the responsiveness of the renal microvasculature to adenosine. Afferent and effe...

ObjectiveAtrophic changes in cerebral gray matter of patients with PD have been reported extensively. There is evidence suggesting an association between cortical gyrification and white abnormalities. Adenosine A2A receptors shown to be upregulated on reactive astrocytes preclinical models neurodegenerative diseases. We, therefore, sought investigate vivo receptor availability its atrophy.Metho...

Silicosis is a lethal fibro-granulomatous pulmonary disease highly prevalent in developing countries, for which no proper therapy is available. Among a small series of N-acylhydrazones, the safrole-derived compound LASSBio-897 (3-thienylidene-3, 4-methylenedioxybenzoylhydrazide) raised interest due to its ability to bind to the adenosine A2A receptor. Here, we evaluated the anti-inflammatory an...

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus may affect the morphology and plasticity of the hippocampus, leading to cognitive impairment [1; 2]. Our previous work presented to this society [3] showed that streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats had similar glucose transport kinetics and, accordingly, displayed osmolarity-related metabolic alterations in the hippocampus. Since chronic STZ-induced diabete...