Adenosine Receptors And Endothelial Cell Mediated Wound Healing

Abstract

Impaired wound healing is a common and serious complication of diabetes mellitus causing an increased risk of infection and tissue damage. Chronic wounds associated with diabetes may be caused by peripheral neuropathy, vascular complications and alterations in immune function and contributes to non-traumatic amputations. Consequently, therapeutic management of wounds in diabetes is centred on infection control and stimulating revascularization. This research will focus on the latter and investigate the effects of high glucose on endothelial function with a view of finding new strategies to improve wound healing in diabetes. This project identified the adenosine receptor subtypes in EA.hy926 endothelial cell lines that are involved in stimulating wound healing and determined whether their roles are affected in the hyperglycaemic environment associated with diabetes. As caffeine is a non-selective antagonist of the adenosine receptors, this study also investigated the effects of acute and 48 hour chronic caffeine treatments on adenosine receptor populations and on wound closure and cell proliferation. Caffeine has a crucial role in wound healing through various mechanisms such as antioxidant activity or increasing the level of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP).