CARNOSINE UPDATE

[Guest guest]

In reply to the email from rosemary below I would like to expand on the

topic of carnosine....

I am currently involved in the most active research group in the world

( " headed by Prof (the discover of creatine see clin sci, 1992)

and myself of course " ) on carnosine in relation to sports performance, and

and have investigated the properties and its function in both plasma and

human skeletal muscle (single fibre myosin isoforms). Current investigations

involving the use of NMR imaging are on going.

A few facts first:

1. Carnosine's main role other than an antioxidant is as a physiochemical

buffer (maintenance of high intensity exercise in real terms through

maintenance of intracellular ph) and provides as much as 40% of the

intracellular buffering in human skeletal muscle. This is due to both its

structure and a pka of 6.8.

2. Carnosine is one of the only imidiazole compounds found in mammalian

muscle to adapt to the hypoxic environment...which is good news for you

bodybuilders hoping to maintain high intensity sessions in the gym!! (typical

human values are 20mmol/kg but as high as 400mmol in the white whale).

OK, enough of the biochem and more into what you are interested in i.e.

maintaining or improving sports performance ...right? or the low down

on carnosine supplementation studies.

We have analysed carnosine up to 100mg per kg of body weight in our lab and

have shown very little uptake into human skeletal muscle after its breakdown

to its constituent amino acids (beta-alanine and histadine) and re-uptake into

muscle tissue (mainly type two). The reason for this is within the blood and

skeletal muscle lies a substance called carnosinase (CASE) which breaks down the

carnosine before it can be absorbed....so this would be the first problem in

terms of wasting your money on this product; secondly both carnosine and beta

alanine ingestion (which we have also tested) cause the displacement of taurine,

an important osmotic regulator and neurotransmitter in the heart. The ingestion

of beta alanine also causes the release of PGD2 released due to inflammation

and causes parathesis (thats pins and needels).

The use of carnosine in horse studies also carried out by prof et al

have shown an increase in AUC in plasma of carnosine following beta alanine

supplementation but carnosinase activity in horses is much lower than in

humans, which may the large elevation

So, in conclusion, if you are looking for a quick way to flush cash down the

toilet, use this product I have heard the placebo effect is great. Otherwise

wait until a product that can guarentee elevated carnosine values in the muscle

arrives...

Best regards and keep training

Mark Tallon BSc MSc CES

M.TALLON@...

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Rosemary Wedderburn wrote:

<We're members of the Life Extension Foundation (www.lef.org). These

people sell all sorts of things and although their thrust is mainly

improvement of and longer life in general, they do advocate

exercise. The products they sell are of good quality although they

are not cheap. In addition, there is a wealth of information on the

site complete with medical research references and reports. They

are also one of the pit bulls hanging on to the ass of the FDA.

Many of you may be familiar with LEF, but I put up a very

abbreviated description of them for those who are not. If you are

not, you may wish to visit the site.

My question concerns carosine, which I've heard of before as being a

substance that not enough was known about to make any

determinations. LEF just sent out a " Hotline " paper to all members

about this compound. They will feature two in-depth fully

referenced reports about this compound in their January 2001

magazine. They feel that among other things, carnosine prevents

muscle wasting, or catabolism, which would make it a boon to

ironheads. From what I understand, the difficulty with additional

muscle mass is not in the building of it, but its retention. The

body, in its drive to create homeostasis, will often tear down

muscle, or almost as much muscle, as one builds, considering only a

certain amount necessary for survival.

LEF feels that " Carnosine stands out as the most promising

multi-modal life extension discovery of recent years [because] it

extends life span at the level of the cell and of the organism. "

They go on to give a panacea of things that can be helped, also

declare it to be safe in large doses and state that it works along

multiple pathways to control the aging process. They place it on a

par with CQ10 as a " cornerstone of longevity nutrition. "

I'd like to know if anyone on the list has heard anything about

carnosine, tried it, or has any comments about it whatsoever. It is

not cheap by any means, even when purchased on LEF's year-end

members sale. A year's supply for my fiance and myself (he would

need 3 caps a day, I would need 2) would run us $810. Of course

before everyone gasps, add up what you spend on other stuff and then

this really isn't that bad considering, especially if it did half of

what it is supposed to do. As a bodybuilder, I am more interested

in preventing catabolism of my hard fought-for muscle, but I'll take

the benefits of growing younger, too! So what do you folks think of

this?>