Blunted adenosine A2a receptor function in platelets in patients with major depression.

There is provisional evidence of involvement of adenosine in depression. In this study, the second messenger intracellular calcium response in platelets was measured in patients with major depression and controls using spectrofluorometry. The primary result of this study was a statistically significantly blunted second messenger response to agonist stimulation in the depressed group compared to the control group at the 50 and 100 nM and 1 microM dosage levels. This suggests that dysregulation of the adenosine A2a receptor may be present in depression.