Genetic parameters for carnitine, creatine, creatinine, carnosine, and anserine concentration in longissimus muscle and their association with palatability traits in Angus cattle.
(18/24)
Carnosine, homocarnosine and anserine: could they act as antioxidants in vivo?
(20/24)
Carnosine, homocarnosine and anserine have been proposed to act as antioxidants in vivo. Our studies show that all three compounds are good scavengers of the hydroxyl radical (.OH) but that none of them can react with superoxide radical, hydrogen peroxide or hypochlorous acid at biologically significant rates. None of them can bind iron ions in ways that interfere with 'site-specific' iron-dependent radical damage to the sugar deoxyribose, nor can they restrict the availability of Cu2+ to phenanthroline. Homocarnosine has no effect on iron ion-dependent lipid peroxidation; carnosine and anserine have weak inhibitory effects when used at high concentrations in some (but not all) assay systems. However, the ability of these compounds to interfere with a commonly used version of the thiobarbituric acid (TBA) test may have led to an overestimate of their ability to inhibit lipid peroxidation in some previous studies. By contrast, histidine stimulated iron ion-dependent lipid peroxidation. It is concluded that, because of the high concentrations present in vivo, carnosine and anserine could conceivably act as physiological antioxidants by scavenging .OH, but that they do not have a broad spectrum of antioxidant activity, and their ability to inhibit lipid peroxidation is not well established. It may be that they have a function other than antioxidant protection (e.g. buffering), but that they are safer to accumulate than histidine, which has a marked pro-oxidant action upon iron ion-dependent lipid peroxidation. The inability of homocarnosine to react with HOCl, interfere with the TBA test or affect lipid peroxidation systems in the same way as carnosine is surprising in view of the apparent structural similarity between these two molecules. (+info)
Antioxidant activity of carnosine, homocarnosine, and anserine present in muscle and brain.
(21/24)
Carnosine, homocarnosine, and anserine are present in high concentrations in the muscle and brain of many animals and humans. However, their exact function is not clear. The antioxidant activity of these compounds has been examined by testing their peroxyl radical-trapping ability at physiological concentrations. Carnosine, homocarnosine, anserine, and other histidine derivatives all showed antioxidant activity. All of these compounds showing peroxyl radical-trapping activity were also electrochemically active as reducing agents in cyclic voltammetric measurements. Furthermore, carnosine inhibited the oxidative hydroxylation of deoxyguanosine induced by ascorbic acid and copper ions. Other roles of carnosine, such as chelation of metal ions, quenching of singlet oxygen, and binding of hydroperoxides, are also discussed. The data suggest a role for these histidine-related compounds as endogenous antioxidants in brain and muscle. (+info)
Intracellular metabolites in rat muscle following trauma: a 31P and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance study.
(22/24)
Hind limb skeletal muscle was studied in vivo in a rat trauma model using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The model used was a 25% body surface area, full-thickness burn administered under anaesthesia. Two groups of six rats were studied. Weight loss was observed in the experimental group whilst the control group continued to gain weight. Concentration ratios involving intramyocellular phosphocreatine (PCr), creatine (Cr), adenosine triphosphate (ATP), inorganic phosphate (Pi), anserine (Ans) and taurine (Tau) were measured. No change in the ratios of PCr/Pi, PCr/ATP, Ans/PCr + Cr and Tau/PCr + Cr were seen between the two groups. Intracellular pH was the same in the two groups. NMR spectroscopy in vivo gives values of Pi and PCr that differ from those obtained by conventional techniques. NMR values are probably more accurate as no degradation occurs during measurement, the measurements being repeatable and noninvasive. (+info)
Metabolic effects of histidine-deficient diets fed to growing rats by gastric tube.
(23/24)
Effects of histidine deficiency on muscle carnosine and anserine levels and on activities of enzymes associated with histidine catabolism and protoporphyrin synthesis were investigated. Male Sprague-Dawley (150 g) rats were tube-fed isonitrogenous, isocaloric, defined diets containing 0%, low (0.013%) or adequate (0.45%) histidine for 8-13 days. While histidine-deficient animals maintained body weight, muscle and plasma histidine and carnosine concentrations decreased rapidly and remained low following a 3-day histidine repletion period. Hepatic histidine ammonia-lyase and histidine-pyruvate transaminase activities were decreased in histidine-deficient animals, whereas formiminotransferase activity was unchanged. Hematocrit levels and hemoglobin concentrations declined progressively during histidine depletion and the activity of erythrocyte and hepatic delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase also decreased relative to controls. Evidence is presented indicating that decreased histidine catabolism combined with carnosine and hemoglobin degradation can provide sufficient histidine to explain the slow onset of negative nitrogen balance associated with histidine deficiency and that impaired protoporphyrin synthesis may partially explain the anemia observed in the absence of dietary histidine. (+info)
Carnosine and other imidazole-containing compounds enhance the postdenervation depolarization of the rat diaphragm fibres.
(24/24)
In the presence of carnosine, anserine, histidine, imidazole and 7-nitro indazole, the early postdenervation depolarization of muscle of about 8 mV was significantly increased by 2.15-4.8 mV. The presence of the imidazole ring in the molecule is apparently necessary for this effect. These compounds also eliminated an NO-mediated protective effect of L-glutamate and carbachol on the depolarization of membrane potential. The presence of imidazole, 7-nitro indazole, carnosine and anserine did not significantly change the effect of an external NO donor, sodium nitroprusside. The structural and functional similarity between imidazole derivatives and the known NO synthase inhibitor, 7-nitro indazole suggests that imidazole, carnosine and anserine might act by inhibiting NO production which is stimulated by glutamate and carbachol. (+info)