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Obesity

Adenosine protects from diet-induced obesity

Nature Reviews Drug Discovery volume 13, pages 886–887 (2014)Cite this article

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Adenosine is released in adipose tissue both from the breakdown of ATP, which is a cotransmitter in sympathetic neurons, and from adipocytes. Gnad et al. found that, in human brown adipocytes, adenosine increased lipolysis and the expression of thermogenic markers, and that an antagonist of the adenosine receptor A2A could block these effects. Human brown adipocytes express high levels of stimulatory A2A receptors, whereas white adipocytes mainly express the inhibitory A1 receptor and low levels of A2A.

BAT thermogenesis is particularly characteristic of newborns, and newborn mice deficient in A2A (Adora2a−/−) generated less heat than did their wild-type littermates. Adult Adora2a−/− mice that were exposed to cold also consumed less oxygen, suggesting that cold-induced BAT thermogenesis is reduced. Consistent with these observations, the response to adenosine in brown adipocytes derived from Adora2a−/− was similar to the response in wild-type white adipocytes; lipolysis, mitochondrial respiration and levels of thermogenic markers were all reduced in BAT from Adora2a−/− mice relative to BAT from controls.

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References

  1. Gnad, T. et al. Adenosine activates brown adipose tissue and recruits beige adipocytes via A2A receptors. Nature http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature13816 (2014)

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  1. Megan Cully
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Cully, M. Adenosine protects from diet-induced obesity. Nat Rev Drug Discov 13, 886–887 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd4490

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