What is prostatic acid phosphatase?
Adenosine has been shown to activate adenosine receptors in the nervous system resulting in analgesia. However, adenosine has a very short half-life, making it ineffective for chronic pain management. Nervous system injury results in the release of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) that is known to induce painful sensations. ATP is rapidly broken down into adenosine monophosphate (AMP) which prostatic acid phosphatase breaks down into adenosine. This pathway results in a much longer duration of analgesia (up to 3 days in animal studies) and has been shown to be 8 times more effective than morphine.