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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2022 Sep 1.
Published in final edited form as: Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2021 Jul 24;176:113888. doi: 10.1016/j.addr.2021.113888

Figure 8. Adenosine receptor (AR) agonists for treatment of NAFLD.

Figure 8.

A) The role of ARs in inflammatory responses in NAFLD. ARs are G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) that regulate adenylyl cyclase (AC) activity. A3AR stimulation triggers increase of AC activity and cAMP production. cAMP activates protein kinase B (PKB), which is a negative regulator of inflammatory NF-kB pathway and glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK-3β) mediated cell apoptosis. B) There are various AR inhibitors. Namodenoson, a potent and selective A3AR agonist was evaluated in Phase 2 trials for the treatment of NAFLD and NASH. The drug successfully met the endpoints with 60 patients and the optimal dosage. The Phase IIb NASH trial of namodenoson is currently underway.