title: Pathological overproduction: the bad side of adenosine.
abstract: Adenosine is an endogenous ubiquitous purine nucleoside, which is increased by hypoxia, ischaemia and tissue damage and mediates a number of physiopathological effects by interacting with four GPCRs, identified as A1, A2A, A2Band A3. Physiological and acutely increased adenosine is mostly associated with beneficial effects that include vasodilatation and a decrease in inflammation. In contrast, chronic overproduction of adenosine occurs in important pathological states, where long-lasting increases in the nucleoside levels are responsible for the bad side of adenosine associated with chronic inflammation, fibrosis and organ damage. In this review, we describe and critically discuss the pathological overproduction of adenosine and analyse when, where and how adenosine exerts its detrimental effects throughout the body.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, 44121, Italy.
authors.forename: Pier Andrea
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Borea
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, 44121, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gessi
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, 44121, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Merighi
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, 44121, Italy.
authors.forename: Fabrizio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vincenzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, 44121, Italy.
authors.forename: Katia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Varani
mesh_terms: D000241:Adenosine / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000241:Adenosine