Biochemical and Pharmacological Role of A Adenosine Receptors and Their Modulation as Novel Therapeutic Strategy.

Adenosine, the purine nucleoside, mediates its effects through activation of four G-protein coupled adenosine receptors (ARs) named as A, A, A and A. In particular, AARs are distributed through the body, primarily inhibitory in the regulation of adenylyl cyclase activity and able to reduce the cyclic AMP levels. Considerable advances have been made in the pharmacological and molecular characterization of AARs, which had been proposed as targets for the discovery and drug design of antagonists, agonists and allosteric enhancers. Several lines of evidence indicate that adenosine interacting with AARs may be an endogenous protective agent in the human body since it prevents the damage caused by various pathological conditions, such as in ischemia/hypoxia, epileptic seizures, excitotoxic neuronal injury and cardiac arrhythmias in cardiovascular system. It has also been reported that one of the most promising targets for the development of new anxiolytic drugs could be AARs, and that their activation may reduce pain signaling in the spinal cord. AAR antagonists induce diuresis and natriuresis in various experimental models, mediating the inhibition of AARs in the proximal tubule which is primarily responsible for reabsorption and fluid uptake. In addition, the results of various studies indicate that adenosine is present within pancreatic islets and is implicated through AARs in the regulation of insulin secretion and in glucose concentrations. In the present paper it will become apparent that AARs could be implicated in the pharmacological treatment of several pathologies with an important influence on human health.