Chemistry Reference
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CHAPTER 14
Caffeine and the Brain:
An Overview
ELIO ACQUAS*
1,3,4
, MARIA ANTONIETTA DE LUCA
2,3
,
SANDRO FENU
2,3,4
, ROSANNA LONGONI
1,3
AND
LILIANA SPINA
1,3
1
Department of Life and Environment Sciences, Drug Sciences Section,
University of Cagliari, Cagliari, - Via Ospedale, 72 - I-09124 Cagliari, Italy;
2
Department of Biomedicine;
3
INN - National Institute of Neuroscience,
University of Cagliari, Via Ospedale, 72 - I-09124 Cagliari, Italy;
4
Center of
Excellence for the Neurobiology of Dependence, University of Cagliari, - Via
Ospedale, 72 - I-09124 Cagliari, Italy
*E-mail: acquas@unica.it
14.1 Introduction
Present in more than 60 known species of plants, caffeine (1,3,7-trimethyl-
xanthine) is certainly the most consumed psychoactive substance in the world.
Dietary sources of caffeine consist of different kinds of coffee and teas,
chocolate, energy drinks and chewing gums. In addition, caffeine enters in the
composition of many over-the-counter drugs used for treating asthma, nasal
congestion, headache and sometimes for improving athletic endurance.
Caffeine is mostly if not uniquely taken by the oral route; it is adsorbed
very quickly and is converted enzymatically in active metabolites that share
with caffeine some of its pharmacological properties.
Caffeine's central pharmacological effects are dose-dependently mediated by
blockade of adenosine A
1
and A
2A
receptors (Fredholm et al 1999).
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