title: Adenosine--a physiological or pathophysiological agent?
abstract: This minireview briefly summarizes the evidence that adenosine, acting on four G-protein coupled receptors, can play physiological roles, but is also critically involved in pathological processes. The factors that decide which of these is the more important in a specific cell or organ are briefly summarized. The fact that drugs that target adenosine receptors in disease will also hit the physiological processes will make drug development more tricky.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, S-17177, Stockholm, Sweden, bertil.fredholm@ki.se.
authors.forename: Bertil B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Fredholm
mesh_terms: D000241:Adenosine / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D004194:Disease; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D018047:Receptors, Purinergic P1 / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018047:Receptors, Purinergic P1; D000241:Adenosine