Skip to main content
Log in

Adenosine A2A, but not A1, receptors mediate the arousal effect of caffeine

  • Brief Communication
  • Published:

From Nature Neuroscience

View current issue Submit your manuscript

Abstract

Caffeine, a component of tea, coffee and cola, induces wakefulness. It binds to adenosine A1 and A2A receptors as an antagonist, but the receptor subtype mediating caffeine-induced wakefulness remains unclear. Here we report that caffeine at 5, 10 and 15 mg kg−1 increased wakefulness in both wild-type mice and A1 receptor knockout mice, but not in A2A receptor knockout mice. Thus, caffeine-induced wakefulness depends on adenosine A2A receptors.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Figure 1: Time course of changes in wakefulness after caffeine (15 mg kg−1) treatment.
Figure 2: Total time of wakefulness for 3 h after caffeine injection.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Porkka-Heiskanen, T. et al. Science 276, 1265–1268 (1997).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Fredholm, B.B., Ijzerman, A.P., Jacobson, K.A., Klotz, K.N. & Linden, J. Pharmacol. Rev. 53, 527–552 (2001).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Basheer, R., Strecker, R.E., Thakkar, M.M. & McCarley, R.W. Prog. Neurobiol. 73, 379–396 (2004).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Hayaishi, O., Urade, Y., Eguchi, N. & Huang, Z.L. Arch. Ital. Biol. 142, 533–539 (2004).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Porkka-Heiskanen, T., Alanko, L., Kalinchuk, A. & Stenberg, D. Sleep Med. Rev. 6, 321–332 (2002).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Fredholm, B.B., Chen, J.F., Masino, S.A. & Vaugeois, J.M. Annu. Rev. Pharmacol. Toxicol. 45, 385–412 (2005).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Satoh, S., Matsumura, H., Suzuki, F. & Hayaishi, O. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 93, 5980–5984 (1996).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Scammell, T.E. et al. Neuroscience 107, 653–663 (2001).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Hong, Z.Y. et al. J. Neurochem. 92, 1542–1549 (2005).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Fredholm, B.B., Battig, K., Holmen, J., Nehlig, A. & Zvartau, E.E. Pharmacol. Rev. 51, 83–133 (1999).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. El Yacoubi, M., Ledent, C., Parmentier, M., Costentin, J. & Vaugeois, J.M. Neuropharmacology 45, 977–985 (2003).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Fisone, G., Borgkvist, A. & Usiello, A. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 61, 857–872 (2004).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Rainnie, D.G., Grunze, H.C., McCarley, R.W. & Greene, R.W. Science 263, 689–692 (1994).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Mignot, E., Taheri, S. & Nishino, S. Nat. Neurosci. 5 (suppl.), 1071–1075 (2002).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Stenberg, D. et al. J. Sleep Res. 12, 283–290 (2003).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was supported in part by grants-in-aid for scientific research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (O.H., Z.-L.H.), the Program for Promotion of Basic Research Activities for Innovative Biosciences (PROBRAIN; Y.U.), Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (O.H.) and Osaka City. This manuscript is dedicated to the late S. Fink to acknowledge his many scientific contributions to adenosine studies.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Osamu Hayaishi.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Huang, ZL., Qu, WM., Eguchi, N. et al. Adenosine A2A, but not A1, receptors mediate the arousal effect of caffeine. Nat Neurosci 8, 858–859 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1491

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1491

  • Springer Nature America, Inc.

This article is cited by

Navigation