Low, but not high, dose caffeine is a readily available probe for adenosine actions. (June 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fredholm, Bertil B.; Yang, Jiangning; Wang, Yingqing
• Is Part Of: Molecular aspects of medicine. Volume 55(2017)
• Page Start: 20
• Page End: 25
• Publication Date: 2017-06
• Subjects: Adenosine -- Caffeine -- Theophylline -- Heart rate -- Locomotion; Pathology, Molecular -- Periodicals; Medicine -- Periodicals; Biochemistry -- Periodicals; Medicine -- Periodicals; Molecular Biology -- Periodicals; Pathologie moléculaire -- Périodiques; Médecine -- Périodiques; Electronic journals; 612.015
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mam.2016.11.011
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0098-2997

Abstract

Abstract: Caffeine is very widely used and knowledge of its mode of action can be used to gain an understanding of basal physiological regulation. This review makes the point that caffeine is – in low doses – an antagonist of adenosine acting at A1, A2A and A2B receptors. We use published and unpublished data to make the point that high dose effects of caffeine are not only qualitatively different but have a different underlying mechanism. Therefore one must be careful in only using epidemiological or experimental data where rather low doses of caffeine are used to draw conclusions about the physiology and pathophysiology of adenosine.