title: Role of adenosine in immunomodulation: review of the literature.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Advances in the understanding of sepsis have failed to deliver satisfactory new treatments aimed at attenuating inflammatory-mediated organ dysfunction. Phagocytic cells play a pivotal role in driving the inflammatory response and causing direct tissue injury. Adenoreceptor stimulation may attenuate such inflammatory-mediated damage by down-regulating phagocytic activity and preventing excessive respiratory burst activation.
  
  
  METHODS
  A Medline database was used to perform a literature search for all articles relating to the use of adenosine as an immunomodulatory agent.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is convincing evidence to suggest that adenoreceptor modulation can prevent tissue injury through a variety of pathways. The use of adenosine modulation in ischemia/reperfusion injury has been the subject of considerable investigation, although experience with its use in sepsis is limited.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Queen's University of Belfast.
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: McCallion
authors.forename: Denis W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Harkin
authors.forename: Keith R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Gardiner
mesh_terms: D000241:Adenosine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000818:Animals; D003422:Critical Care / Q000379:methods; D016638:Critical Illness; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007109:Immunity / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009102:Multiple Organ Failure / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D018375:Neutrophil Activation / Q000187:drug effects*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D015427:Reperfusion Injury / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D018570:Risk Assessment; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000241:Adenosine