PURPOSE The role of adenosine and its receptors in acute pancreatitis remains unelucidated. The aim was to evaluate the effects of the adenosine A2a receptor agonist and antagonist in the severe, taurocholate-induced experimental acute pancreatitis (EAP). MATERIAL AND METHODS The experiments were performed on 80 male Wistar rats, subdivided into 4 groups: C--the control rats, I--the EAP group...

Kitchen, Amy M., Tadeusz J. Scislo, and Donal S. O’Leary. NTS A2a purinoceptor activation elicits hindlimb vasodilation primarily via a b-adrenergic mechanism. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 278: H1775–H1782, 2000.— Previously, we have shown that activation of adenosine A2a receptors in the subpostremal nucleus tractus solitarii (NTS) via microinjection of the selective A2a receptor agonist CG...

Typical antipsychotics, potent D2 dopamine receptor antagonists, are the most commonly used drugs in the treatment of bipolar disorders. In the central nervous system, the discovery of antagonistic interactions between A2A adenosine receptors and D2 dopamine receptors suggests that the adenosine system may be involved in the pathogenesis of different psychiatric disorders and in the therapeutic...

Adenosine, a neuromodulator of the CNS, activates inhibitory-A1 receptors and facilitatory-A2A receptors; its synaptic levels are controlled by the activity of bi-directional equilibrative nucleoside transporters. To study the relationship between the extracellular formation/inactivation of adenosine and the activation of adenosine receptors, we investigated how A1 and A2A receptor activation m...

BACKGROUND Cocaine increases the level of endogenous dopamine (DA) in the striatum by blocking the DA transporter. Endogenous DA modulates glutamatergic inputs to striatal neurons and this modulation influences motor activity. Since D2 DA and A2A-adenosine receptors (A2A-Rs) have antagonistic effects on striatal neurons, drugs targeting adenosine receptors such as caffeine-like compounds, could...

FOUR SUBTYPES OF ADENOSINE RECEPTORS (A1, A2A, A2B, and A3 receptors) are known to exist (26). Traditionally, the A1-adenosine receptor has been thought to be the only subtype expressed in ventricular cardiomyocytes. By inhibiting adenylyl cyclase, the A1 receptor attenuates the positive inotropic effect of b-adrenergic receptor stimulation (or other interventions that stimulate adenylyl cyclas...

Brain adenosine A2A receptors have recently attracted considerable attention because of their interaction with the dopaminergic system and as potential targets for Parkinson's disease pharmacotherapy. Post mortem adenosine A2A receptor mRNA and [3H]SCH 58261- specific binding to adenosine A2A receptor were studied in the brain of Parkinson's disease patients using in situ hybridization and rece...

Addiction to psychostimulants is a major public health problem with no available treatment. Adenosine A2A receptors (A2A R) co-localize with metabotropic glutamate 5 receptors (mGlu5 R) in the striatum and functionally interact to modulate behaviours induced by addictive substances, such as alcohol. Using genetic and pharmacological antagonism of A2A R in mice, we investigated whether A2A R-mGl...

Ponzio, Todd A., Yu-Feng Wang, and Glenn I. Hatton. Activation of adenosine A2A receptors alters postsynaptic currents and depolarizes neurons of the supraoptic nucleus. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 291: R359–R366, 2006. First published April 27, 2006; doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00747.2005.—Supraoptic nucleus (SON) neurons secrete oxytocin or vasopressin in response to various physiological ...

Acute intermittent hypoxia elicits a form of spinal, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)-dependent respiratory plasticity known as phrenic long-term facilitation. Ligands that activate G(s)-protein-coupled receptors, such as the adenosine 2a receptor, mimic the effects of neurotrophins in vitro by transactivating their high-affinity receptor tyrosine kinases, the Trk receptors. Thus, we hy...