Purinergic Pharmaceuticals for the 1990s

Central adenosine A(2A) receptors: an overview

Recent advances in molecular biology, biochemistry, cell biology and behavioral pharmacology together with the development of more selective ligands to the various adenosine receptors have increased our understanding of the functioning of central adenosine A(2A) receptors. The A(2A) receptor is one of four adenosine receptors found in the brain. Its expression is highest in striatum, nucleus accumbens and olfactory tubercles, although it also occurs in neurons and microglia in most other brain regions. The receptor has seven transmembrane domains and couples via Gs to adenyl cyclase stimulation. Antagonistic interactions between A(2A) receptors and dopamine D(2) receptors have been described, as stimulation of the A(2A) receptor leads to a reduction in the affinity of D(2) receptors for D(2) receptor agonists. The A(2A) receptor is thought to play a role in a number of physiological responses and pathological conditions. Indeed, A(2A) receptor antagonists may be useful for the treatment of acute and chronic neurodegenerative disorders such as cerebral ischemia or Parkinson's disease. A(2A) receptor agonists may treat certain types of seizures or sleep disorders. This review discusses the characteristics, distribution, pharmacochemical properties and regulation of central A(2A) receptors, as well as A(2A) receptor-mediated behavioural responses and their potential role in various neuropsychiatric disorders.

Adenosine receptors: new opportunities for future drugs

This review summarises current knowledge on adenosine receptors, an important G protein-coupled receptor. The four known adenosine receptor subtypes A1, A2A, A2B, and A3 are discussed with special reference to the opportunities for drug development.

Liquid chromatographic determination of the adenosine receptor agonist CGS 21680 in blood using on-line solid-phase extraction on a phenylboronic acid support and fluorescence detection

An analytical method is described for the selective determination of A1 or A2 adenosine receptor agonists in blood. By implementing solid-phase extraction using immobilized-phenylboronic acid (PBA) in sample pretreatment, all adenosine derivatives are retained via their intact cis-diol group. On-line desorption of the analytes from the PBA support to the C18 analytical column is performed by injection of a small plug of perchloric acid. Fluorescence and UV detection are employed for the different adenosine derivatives. The method is applied to the determination of 2-[p-(2-carboxyethyl)phenylethylamino]-5'-N- ethylcarboxyamidoadenosine (CGS 21680, I) in blood using fluorescence detection. The only off-line sample handling step is the extraction of blood with ethyl acetate and subsequent evaporation of the extraction solvent. The detection limit of the method was 0.25 ng (signal-to-noise ratio 3:1) and the determination limit for I in blood (pretreatment of 100 microliters) was 5 ng/ml. The method was validated and used to study the pharmacokinetics of I in rats.