Purinergic signaling in diabetes and metabolism

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Purinergic signaling, a concept originally formulated by the late Geoffrey Burnstock (1929-2020), was found to modulate pathways in every physiological system. In metabolic disorders there is a role for both adenosine receptors and P2 (nucleotide) receptors, of which there are two classes, i.e. P2Y metabotropic and P2X ionotropic receptors. The individual roles of the 19 receptors encompassed by this family have been dissected - and in many cases the effects associated with specific cell types, including adipocytes, skeletal muscle, liver cells and immune cells. It is suggested that ligands selective for each of the four adenosine receptors (A 1 , A 2A , A 2B and A 3 ), and several of the P2 subtypes (e.g. P2Y 6 or P2X7 antagonists) might have therapeutic potential for treating diabetes and obesity. This is a developing story with some conflicting conclusions relevant to drug discovery, which we summarize here.

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

Browse all related research

Filter the research library by this study's title keywords, author, or publication year.