A 2A adenosine receptor (A 2A AR) has been shown to suppress superoxide generation in leukocytes via the cAMP-protein kinase A (PKA) pathway. However, no study has yet explored the role of A 2A AR in relation to NADPH oxidase in murine tracheas in vitro, which may lead to altered smooth muscle relaxation in asthma. Therefore, the present study evaluated the effects of A 2A AR deficiency on the NADPH oxidase pathway in tracheas of A 2A wild-type (WT) and A 2A knockout (KO) mice. A 2A WT mice were sensitized with ovalbumin (30 g i.p.) on days 1 and 6, followed by 5% ovalbumin aerosol challenge on days 11, 12, and 13. In conclusion, this study shows that A 2A AR deficiency causes increased NADPH oxidase activation leading to decreased tracheal relaxation via altered cAMP-PKA signaling and ROS generation.Asthma, a chronic airways disease, is characterized by inflammation, airway hyper-responsiveness, and altered tracheal responsiveness to relaxing agents. These effects are mediated largely by the release of histamine, prostaglandins, cytokines, adenosine, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) from various cells, which include inflammatory leukocytes, epithelial cells, and airway smooth muscle cells (Busse and Lemanske, 2001;Barnes and Drazen, 2002;Nadeem and Mustafa, 2006). Production of ROS is associated both with intracellular signaling and the reproduction of many pathophysiologic features associated with asthma by altering the organization and function of cell membranes and increasing airway reactivity, airway secretions, vascular permeability, and the release of chemoattractants van der Vliet, 2008).Adenosine-mediated effects are exerted through the activation of the four different G-protein-coupled transmem-