This is an overview of the fast-moving field of purinergic signalling through adenosine and ATP receptors. - Authors are the leading authorities in their fields - Subject matter is important for understanding tissue protection - Subject matter is of intense interest for new drug development

In the first 20 years that followed the purinergic signalling hypothesis in 1972, most scientists were sceptical about its validity, largely because ATP was so well established as an intracellular molecule involved in cell biochemistry and it seemed unlikely that such a ubiquitous molecule would act as an extracellular signalling molecule. However, after the receptors for ATP and adenosine were cloned and characterized in the early 1990s and ATP was established as a synaptic transmitter in the brain and sympathetic ganglia, the tide turned. More recently it has become clear that ATP is involved in long-term (trophic) signalling in cell proliferation, differentiation and death, in development and regeneration, as well as in short-term signalling in neurotransmission and secretion. Also, important papers have been published showing the molecular structure of P2X receptors in primitive animals like Amoeba and Schistosoma, as well as green algae. This has led to the recognition of the widespread nature of the purinergic signalling system in most cell types and to a rapid expansion of the field, including studies of the pathophysiology as well as physiology and exploration of the therapeutic potential of purinergic agents. In two books, Geoffrey Burnstock and Alexej Verkhratsky have aimed at drawing together the massive and diverse body of literature on purinergic signalling. The topic of this first book is purinergic signalling in the peripheral and central nervous systems and in the individual senses. In a second book the authors focus on purinergic signalling in non-excitable cells, including those of the airways, kidney, pancreas, endocrine glands and blood vessels. Diseases related to these systems are also considered.

This book aims to provide a brief update on the functions of purinergic receptors in various systems, in addition to the signaling pathway activated to mediate these functions. We address the influence of hypoxia by modulating the activity of these receptors under physiological and pathophysiological conditions. Additionally, we describe the mechanisms of induction of pain and inflammation in different systems. Finally, the book discusses some of the main bioinformatics tools currently used to improve or discover new prototypes capable of selectively acting on these receptors with estimated parameters of satisfactory solubility and toxicity for possible commercial implementation.

Illustrations by Lorie M. Gavulic, MFA Sponsored by the American Society for Neurochemistry.

A quick reference to basic science for anaesthetists, containing all the key information needed for FRCA exams.

This book traces the history of adenosine receptor research from molecular biology to medicinal chemistry to behavior, including their implications in disease and potential strategies as therapeutic targets. It provides the reader with a comprehensive overview of the adenosine receptors that includes information on all subtypes - A1, A2A, A2B and A3. Aspects addressed include the most up to date information on their functional distribution in the nervous and peripheral systems, behavioral roles in inflammation, cancer, pain and neurological diseases such as Huntington’s disease, Epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

Since their discovery approximately 25 years ago, adenosine receptors have now emerged as important novel molecular targets in disease and drug discovery. These proteins play important roles in the entire spectrum of disease from inflammation to immune suppression. Because of their expression on a number of different cell types and in a number of different organ systems they play important roles in specific diseases, including asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, stroke, cancer, sepsis, and obesity. As a result of intense investigations into understanding the molecular structures and pharmacology of these proteins, new molecules have been synthesized that have high specificity for these proteins and are now entering clinical trials. These molecules will define the next new classes of drugs for a number of diseases with unmet medical needs.

Pharmacological knowledge among medical students can have a very short 'half life': students often fail not because they have failed to study, but because they have been unable to retain key knowledge and reproduce it in an exam setting. This book takes an alternative route to the conventional approach of comprehensively exploring each individual drug and its features: not only can such an approach overwhelm and make knowledge retention difficult, but the current exam format makes questions structured in this way unlikely anyway. Instead of aiming to be completely comprehensive, it examines drugs systematically by classifications, mechanisms of action, therapeutic uses and side effects, enabling students to gain the distilled, functional grasp of pharmacology that their exams actually demand quickly and clearly.

Pharmacology for the Health Care Professions is an accessible introduction to the pharmacology necessary for health care professionals training to be non-medical prescribers looking for an overview of the subject. The book covers the pharmacology necessary for accredited training programmes in non-medical prescribing and certification in access and supply of prescription-only medicines and will be useful as an ongoing reference for future use in practice. Opening with a general introduction to pharmacology as a science, the book goes on to explain what is meant by drugs and medicines and why pharmacology should be of relevance to health care professionals. The reader is presented with general principles of pharmacology followed by systemic pharmacology that covers the actions of important groups of drugs in common use to treat diseases and conditions of the cardiovascular, respiratory, endocrine, musculoskeletal, skin and central nervous systems. The physiology and pathophysiology relevant to the understanding of how these drugs work is included. Finally the book explores the law in relation to the sale, supply, administration and prescription of drugs and explains what is meant by non-medical prescribing. All aspects of non-medical prescribing are considered including the use of exemptions to the Medicines Act, patient group directions, supplementary prescribing and the development of independent prescribing for nurses and pharmacists. Pharmacology is explained in simple, easy to understand terms and the book avoids any unnecessary chemistry where possible. Case studies that are of particular relevance to health care professionals are used throughout to illustrate the importance of the pharmacology major body systems and pathologies and the potential problems of adverse drug reactions and drug-drug interactions.