The liver tolerates ischemia/reperfusion (IR) poorly. The discovery of ischemic preconditioning (IP) has raised hopes that natural pathways could be activated to increase hepatic resistance to ischemia. However, mechanisms of hepatic IP remain largely unknown. Extracellular adenosine has been implicated as an innate anti-inflammatory metabolite, particularly during ischemia. We investigated whether ecto-5'-nucleotidase (CD73), the "pacemaker" enzyme of extracellular adenosine production, is critical for hepatic protection by IP.
