Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 Feb;20(1):21-28.
doi: 10.1007/s11302-023-09968-5. Epub 2023 Sep 27.

Coffee, adenosine, and the liver

Jonathan A Dranoff  1
Affiliations
Review

Coffee, adenosine, and the liver

Jonathan A Dranoff. Purinergic Signal. 2024 Feb.

Abstract

A variety of observational studies have demonstrated that coffee, likely acting through caffeine, improves health outcomes in patients with chronic liver disease. The primary pharmacologic role of caffeine is to act as an inhibitor of adenosine receptors. Because key liver cells express adenosine receptors linked to liver injury, regeneration, and fibrosis, it is plausible that the biological effects of coffee are explained by effects of caffeine on adenosinergic signaling in the liver. This review is designed to help the reader make sense of that hypothesis, highlighting key observations in the literature that support or dispute it.

Keywords: Adenosine; Adenosine receptor; Cirrhosis; Coffee; Liver; Myofibroblast.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

None.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Syal G, Fausther M, Dranoff JA. Advances in cholangiocyte immunobiology. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol. 2012;303:G1077–1086. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wells RG, Schwabe RF. Origin and function of myofibroblasts in the liver. Semin Liver Dis. 2015;35:97–106. - PubMed
    1. Hammerich L, and Tacke F (2023) Hepatic inflammatory responses in liver fibrosis. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 20:633–646 - PubMed
    1. Wynn TA, Barron L. Macrophages: master regulators of inflammation and fibrosis. Semin Liver Dis. 2010;30:245–257. - PMC - PubMed
    1. McConnell MJ, Kostallari E, Ibrahim SH, Iwakiri Y. The evolving role of liver sinusoidal endothelial cells in liver health and disease. Hepatol. 2023;78:649–669. - PMC - PubMed