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Adenosine is a naturally occurring compound important to biochemistry, regulating arousal and sleep, and protecting cells. It is a purine nucleoside composed of ribose and adenine. Adenosine levels increase during waking hours, causing drowsiness and sleep. Caffeine interferes with adenosine’s effects. Adenosine is also a component of important chemicals such as ATP and has medical uses, including identifying blockages in arteries and treating abnormal heartbeats.
Adenosine is a naturally occurring organic compound that is important to the biochemistry of living organisms, including humans. It also helps regulate arousal and sleep and protect cells from damage. Furthermore, it is a component of several larger and related molecules with important functions such as intracellular messaging and energy supply for metabolism. In medicine, it is also sometimes given intravenously to treat heart conditions. Its chemical formula is C10H13N5O4.
It’s a type of chemical called a purine nucleoside, a term that describes its molecular structure. Purine compounds are composed of two connected ring-shaped structures of atoms called aromatic rings, which have unusually high chemical stability. A nucleoside is a compound in which a compound called a nucleobase, or simply base, is bonded to a molecule of ribose (C5H10O5) or deoxyribose (C5H10O4), both simple sugars or monosaccharides. Adenosine consists of ribose combined with the purine adenine (C5H5N5).
The amount of the substance in the body gradually increases during waking hours. Due to its inhibitory effect on the nervous system, this eventually begins to cause drowsiness and eventually sleep, at which point the amount of the chemical in the body begins to decrease again. Part of the reason for the effectiveness of caffeine (C8H10N4O2) as a stimulant is that caffeine can bind to the same receptors in cells and thus interfere with the normal effects of high adenosine levels. Levels of adenosine in the bloodstream also rise significantly in areas experiencing inflammation or limited blood or oxygen supply, where the chemical helps reduce inflammation and prevent cell damage.
Several important chemicals in the body are composed of adenosine combined with one or more phosphate groups. Adenosine monophosphate (C10H14N5O7P) is a type of chemical called a second messenger, which carries chemical messages from outside your cell to the inside. Adenosine triphosphate (C10H16N5O13P3), or ATP, is an important source of chemical energy for the body and fuels many metabolic processes with the energy released when its chemical bonds are broken. Adenosine diphosphate (C10H15N5O10P2) is produced from the breakdown of ATP and can be recycled to produce more ATP with energy produced from food in animals or photosynthesis in plants.
It also has medical uses. When injected into the bloodstream, it slows the heart rate due to its electrical effects on the atrioventricular node, which regulates heartbeat and inhibits the release of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine. It also causes the smooth muscle tissue around the arteries to relax and dilate. Adenosine is used by doctors to identify blockages in the arteries or abnormal heart beats. It can also be an effective treatment for some cases of abnormally fast heartbeat or tachycardia.
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