Adenosine Adenocard by Ray Sahelian, M.D.

Adenosine is a nucleoside made of adenine attached to a ribose. Adenosine plays an important role in energy transfer - as adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and adenosine diphosphate (ADP) - as well as in signal transduction as cyclic adenosine monophosphate, cAMP. Adenosine is now a pharmaceutical drug with the product name Adenocard. Caffeine acts as a potent antagonist of central and peripheral nervous system adenosine receptors.

How adenosine works
Adenosine slows conduction time through the A-V node. This nucleoside can interrupt the reentry pathways through the A-V node, and can restore normal sinus rhythm in patients with paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT),

Intravenous adenosine Adenocard
Intravenous adenosine is indicated for conversion to sinus rhythm of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT), including that associated with accessory bypass tracts (Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome). Adenocard adenosine does not convert atrial flutter, atrial fibrillation, or ventricular tachycardia to normal sinus rhythm. In the presence of atrial flutter or atrial fibrillation.

Adenosine for heart attack
Adjunctive administration of adenosine along with early reperfusion therapy improves outcomes after acute myocardial infarction (MI). Dr. Robert A. Kloner from Good Samaritan Hospital, Los Angeles, California investigated the efficacy of high-dose intravenous adenosine in relation to reperfusion time and modality in patients presenting with ST-segment elevation anterior acute MI. Compared with those who received placebo, patients who started reperfusion therapy within 3.17 hours of symptom onset and who received adenosine had significantly lower mortality at both 1 month (9.2% vs 5.2%) and 6 months (11.2% vs 7.3%). Adenosine did not improve clinical outcomes in patients reperfused later than 3 hours after onset of chest pain. European Heart Journal 2006;27:2400-2405.

Adenosine is sold as a raw material to vitamin companies.