Carnosine

Carnosine (beta-alanyl- L -histidine) is a dipeptide of the amino acids beta-alanine and histidine. It is highly concentrated in muscle and brain tissues. It is a neuropeptide.

Carnosine and carnitine were discovered by Russian chemist V.Gulevich. Researchers in Britain, South Korea, Russia and other countries   have shown that carnosine has a number of antioxidant properties that may be beneficial. Carnosine has been proven to scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS) as well as alpha-beta unsaturated aldehydes formed from peroxidation of cell membrane fatty acids during oxidative stress.

Carnosine can oppose glycation and it can chelate divalent metal ions. Chronic glycolysis is suspected to accelerate aging. Carnosine was found to inhibit diabetic nephropathy by protecting the podocytes and mesangial cells.

Carnosine containing products are also used in topical preparations to reduce wrinkles on the skin.

Some studies have detected beneficial effects of N-acetylcarnosine in preventing and treating cataracts of the eyes; in one of these, carnosine was found to reduce cloudiness in rat lenses that were exposed to guanidine to cause cataracts. However, claims that carnosine confers these and other posited ophthalmological benefits are, as yet, insufficiently supported for endorsement by the mainstream medical community; Britain's Royal College of Ophthalmologists, for instance, has asserted that neither safety nor efficacy has been sufficiently demonstrated to recommend carnosine's use as a topical treatment for cataracts.

A small 2002 study reported that carnosine improved socialization and receptive vocabulary in children with autism. Improvement in this study could have been due to maturation, educational interventions, placebo effect, or other confounds that were not addressed in the study design. In animal models, supplemental carnosine can increase corticosterone levels, which may explain the hyperactivity sometimes seen in high doses. However, the aforementioned study used carnosine injected into chicks intracerebroventricularly, and a raise in corticosterone levels has not yet been found in humans.

In animal models carnosine has been shown to retard cancer growth and protect against alcohol-induced oxidative stress as well as ethanol-induced chronic liver damage. Carnosine is also neuroprotective against permanent poor oxygen supply to brain in mice.

Carnosine can increase the Hayflick limit in human fibroblasts, as well as appearing to reduce the telomere shortening rate. This could potentially favor the growth of certain cancers that thrive due to telomere preservation. Carnosine is also considered as a geroprotector.

The Professor Wang et al. clinical trial study called 'Use of carnosine as a natural anti-senescence drug for human beings' was carried out on 96 patients with cataracts of varying degrees of severity, which showed a success rate of 80% in advanced senile cataracts, and 100% in patients with mild to moderate cataracts, over the 6 months trial period.