kiranmayi
Forum Guru
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mechanism of action of caffeine?
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| dxtxpx
Forum Guru
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It blocks adenosine receptors esp alpha receptors. Caffeine has a similar structure to the adenosine group, but also has more heavily electrophilic and nucleophilic functional groups than adenosine (as, for instance, seen in cyclic AMP). This means that caffeine will fit adenosine receptors as well as adenosine itself will. Thus, cyclic AMP remains active, rather than being broken down.
Second among the effects of caffeine is phosphodiesterase inhibition. The phosphodiesterase class of enzymes includes a number of enzymes responsible for breaking down cyclic AMP, thus depriving the body of an energy supply. Caffeine fools phosphodiesterase into attacking it instead, which inhibits the breakdown of cyclic AMP. However, the concentration of caffeine required for this effect to become significant is sufficiently high that the adenosine blocking remains the dominant factor.
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