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Carnosine

Related Topics:

• Advanced Glycation End Products

Specific Recommendations:

• carnosine at Amazon.com

News & Research:

• Cross-link Breakers and Inhibitors - International Anti-Aging Systems
• Nutritional supplement improves cognitive performance in older adults, study finds - Science Daily, 2/6/14 - "The USF-developed nutritional supplement, containing extracts from blueberries and green tea combined with vitamin D3 and amino acids, including carnosine, was tested by the USF researchers in a clinical trial enrolling 105 healthy adults, ages 65 to 85 ... called NT-020 ... Those randomized to the group of 52 volunteers receiving NT-020 demonstrated improvements in cognitive processing speed, while the 53 volunteers randomized to receive a placebo did not ... Blueberries, a major ingredient in the NT-020 formula, are rich in polyphenols ... NT-020 is 95 percent polyphenols" - See Garden of Life, Radical Fruits Antioxidant Complex at Amazon.com and carnosine products at Amazon.com.
• Nutrient blend improves function of aging brain: rat study - Nutra USA, 7/21/10 - "NT-020 is a combination of blueberry, green tea extract, carnosine and vitamin D3 ... The NT-020 group demonstrated increased adult neural stem cell proliferation in the two main stem cell niches in the brains and improvement in learning and memory"
• Natural substance NT-020 aids aging brains in rats, study finds - Science Daily, 7/20/10 - "Aging has been linked to oxidative stress, and we have previously shown that natural compounds made from blueberries, green tea, and amino acids, such as carnosine, are high in antioxidants and have anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative activity .... The combination of these nutrients, called NT-020, creates a synergistic effect that promotes the proliferation of stem cells in the aged animals ... NT-020 may have not only a positive effect on the stem cell niche ... NT-020 may have far-reaching effects on organ function beyond the replacement of injured cells, as demonstrated by cognitive improvement in the NT-020 group"
• New Evidence That Popular Dietary Supplement May Help Prevent, Treat Cataracts - Science Daily, 7/15/09 - "The scientists exposed tissue cultures of healthy rat lenses to either guanidine — a substance known to form cataracts — or a combination of guanidine and carnosine. The guanidine lenses became completely cloudy, while the guanidine/carnosine lenses developed 50 to 60 percent less cloudiness. Carnosine also restored most of the clarity to clouded lenses. The results demonstrate the potential of using carnosine for preventing and treating cataracts, the scientists say"
• Carnosine Is Neuroprotective Against Permanent Focal Cerebral Ischemia in Mice - Stroke. 2007 Oct 4 - "Carnosine is neuroprotective in focal cerebral ischemia and appears to influence deleterious pathological processes that are activated after the onset of ischemia"
• How Carnosine Protects Against Age-Related Disease - Life Extension Magazine, 1/06 - "By preventing the formation of dangerous AGEs, carnosine may help the body’s proteins retain their youthful vigor and function. Moreover, studies demonstrate that carnosine is also a powerful antioxidant. Carnosine’s age-defying effects make this critical nutrient an essential cornerstone of every anti-aging program"
• Pathways of Aging - Life Extension Magazine, 1/04 - "Carnosine and several antioxidants were tested for their ability to protect cells exposed to 90% oxygen from chromosomal damage. Only carnosine exerted significant protection, reducing the level of chromosomal damage by two-thirds"
• Eating Food Cooked At High Temperature Accelerates Aging - Life Extension Magazine, 5/03 - "consuming foods high in glycotoxins might be responsible for the induction of a low-grade, but chronic state of inflammation. In addition, the glycotoxins in food cooked at high temperatures also promote the formation of glycotoxins in our living tissues. The implication of these findings is profound ... Inflammatory cytokine production can be suppressed with the proper supplementation of fish oil, DHEA, vitamin K and nettle leaf extract ... It is also important to avoid over consumption of foods high in arachidonic acid (beef, egg yolk, dairy, etc.) ... Consuming at least 1000 mg a day of carnosine, and/or 300 mg of the European drug aminoguanidine can inhibit pathological glycation reactions in the body"
• Preserving Clear Vision - Life Extension Magazine, 2/03 - "It is likely that glycation plays a role in aging in non-diabetics as well, especially those who eat diets high in sugars and refined carbohydrates or those who have blood sugars higher than normal but not high enough to merit a diabetes diagnosis ... Carnosine's best-known effect, however, is its ability to prevent the formation of advanced glycated end products (protein crosslinks). Carnosine competes with proteins for the binding sites they would occupy on sugar molecules, making it the best glycation preventative currently recognized in the world of nutrition research"
• The Anti-Aging Effects of Carnosine - Life Extension Magazine, 1/03 - "Carnosine quenches the most destructive protein-oxidizing agent (the hydroxyl radical). One study showed carnosine was the only antioxidant to significantly protect cellular chromosomes from oxidative damage.2 Antioxidants cannot completely protect proteins. Nature's second line of defense is to repair or remove damaged proteins.3 This is where carnosine demonstrates its most profound anti-aging effect ... Studies show that carnosine is effective against cross-linking and the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGE).6,7 Glycated proteins produce 50-fold more free radicals than nonglycated proteins and carnosine may be the most effective anti-glycating agent known"
• Extending Healthspan: Hormones, Supplements, Diet and Exercise - Life Extension Magazine, 10/02 - "Besides its anti-glycation activity, carnosine protects against damage by aldehydes. It also chelates metals, buffering against an excess of zinc and copper. Carnosine has also been shown to inhibit the formation of amyloid plaque characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease"
• Why Antioxidants Aren't Enough - Life Extension Magazine, 1/02
• The Wizard is Oz - Life Extension Magazine, 11/01 - "Best-selling author and nutritional guru to the rich and famous, Oz Garcia is singing the praises of the Life Extension Foundation and its products in his newest book, The Healthy High Tech Body, published in September 2001 ... Supplements at the top of Garcia's list of recommendations ... DHA ... NADH ... Alpah Lipoic Acid ... Acetyl-L-Carnitine ... An expanded list of his recommendations includes lycopene, gamma tocopherol, vinpocetine, SAMe, folic acid, carnosine, glutathione, DMAE, Huperzine A, probiotics, MSM, secretagogues, arginine pyroglutamate, IP-6, bioflavonoid formulas and grape skin/seed extracts"
• Carnosine Nature's pluripotent life extension agent - Life Extension Magazine, 1/01 - "Carnosine distinctly improved the appearance of the aged mice, whose coat fullness and color remained much closer to that of young animals.  Significantly more carnosine-treated mice had glossy coats (44% vs. 5%), while significantly fewer had skin ulcers (14% vs. 36%) . . . .The sharpest contrast between the treated and untreated mice was seen in their behavior. Only 9% of the untreated mice displayed normal behavioral reactivity, compared to 58% of the carnosine treated mice."
• Staying Young Forever, Putting new research findings into practice - Life Extension Foundation, 12/99 - "The formation of AGE happens in everyone and is a major factor in the aging process itself. These damaged proteins may lead to premature signs of aging (wrinkles and brown spots) and in the long run to damaging effects on most organ systems within the body . . . The amino acid carnosine is a natural AGE inhibitor found in high concentrations in the brain, muscle tissue and the lens of the human eye. It is also known to be an antioxidant capable of protecting cell membranes and other cell structures. In vitro studies demonstrated that carnosine inhibits glycosylation and crosslinking of proteins induced by reactive aldehydes, and that it is effective in reducing AGE formation by competing with proteins for binding with the sugars. The authors suggest that this nontoxic compound should be explored in the treatment of such conditions as diabetic complications, inflammatory disorders, alcoholic liver disease and possibly Alzheimer's disease."
• Carnosine, the new anti-aging supplement, By Marios Kyriazis MD - "The result is the formation of AGEs (Advance Glycosylation End-products). These are abnormal, cross-linked. oxidized products which are thought to cause extensive damage to the organism. Carnosine blocks this deleterious reaction. protecting against cross-linking of proteins, cross-linking of proteins to DNA molecules, and formation of other abnormal proteins, all of which are fundamental features of the aging process . . . carnosine reacts with and inactivates aldehydes and ketones. reducing protein glycosylation and the formation of AGEs. It also binds to already formed AGEs and inactivates them . . . treatment with carnosine was found to reduce or completely prevent cell damage caused by beta amyloid, the substance found in the brain of Alzheimer's disease patients . . . Five users noticed significant improvements in their facial appearance (firmer facial muscles), muscular stamina and general well-being. Five others reported possible benefits, for example better sleep patterns, improved clarity of thought and increased libido. The rest did not report any noticeable effects.  This is not surprising because supplementation with carnosine is not expected to show any significant noticeable benefits in a short time, but it should be used as an insurance against deleterious effects of the aging process"

Abstracts:

• Carnosine as a potential therapeutic for the management of peripheral vascular disease - Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis 2022 Jul 16 - "Peripheral vascular disease is growing in its burden and impact; however it is currently under researched, and there are a lack of strong, non-invasive therapeutic options for the clinicians. Carnosine is a dipeptide stored particularly in muscle and brain tissue, which exhibits a wide range of physiological activities, which may be beneficial as an adjunct treatment for peripheral vascular disease. Carnosine's strong anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antiglycating actions may aid in the prevention of plaque formation, through protective actions on the vascular endothelium, and the inhibition of foam cells. Carnosine may also improve angiogenesis, exercise performance and vasodilatory response, while protecting from ischemic tissue injury ... carnosine may have a role as an adjunct treatment for peripheral vascular disease alongside typical exercise and surgical interventions, and may be used in high risk individuals to aid in the prevention of atherogenesis" - See carnosine at Amazon.com.
• Carnosine Alleviates Knee Osteoarthritis and Promotes Synoviocyte Protection via Activating the Nrf2/HO-1 Signaling Pathway: An In-Vivo and In-Vitro Study - Antioxidants (Basel) 2022 Jun 20 - "The most common joint disease in the elderly is knee osteoarthritis (OA). It is distinguished by cartilage degradation, subchondral bone loss, and a decrease in joint space. We studied the effects of carnosine (CA) on knee OA in male Wistar rats ... This study's investigation suggests that CA significantly alleviates knee OA both in vitro and in vivo" - See carnosine at Amazon.com.
• Carnosine and Histidine-Containing Dipeptides Improve Dyslipidemia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials - Nutr Rev 2020 Jun 28 - "Carnosine and other histidine-containing dipeptides (HCDs) have exerted positive effects on cardiovascular risk factors and diseases in animal and human studies ... Carnosine and other HCDs may have a role in improving lipid profiles" - See carnosine at Amazon.com and iHerb and histidine at Amazon.com.
• Carnosine treatment during human semen processing by discontinuous density gradient - Andrologia. 2019 Dec 3 - "20 mM of carnosine supplementation on the layers of Percoll; and (b) 50 mM carnosine supplementation ... The 50 mM carnosine supplementation led to improved sperm mitochondrial activity when compared to untreated samples. Motility variables, such as percentage of motile and progressively motile spermatozoa, average path velocity, straight line velocity, curvilinear velocity and linearity, showed an improvement after semen processing irrespective of carnosine supplementation. Both concentrations of carnosine increased the beat-cross frequency (BCF) when compared to samples before processing. We conclude that carnosine supplementation in semen samples benefits sperm mitochondrial activity and BCF"
• The neuroprotective properties of carnosine in a mouse model of manganism is mediated via mitochondria regulating and antioxidative mechanisms - Nutr Neurosci. 2019 Mar 11:1-13 - "These data indicate that carnosine is a potential neuroprotective agent against Mn neurotoxicity. Antioxidative and mitochondria protecting effects of carnosine might play a fundamental role in its neuroprotective properties against Mn toxicity"
• Novel Facial Cream Containing Carnosine Inhibits Formation of Advanced Glycation End-Products in Human Skin - Skin Pharmacol Physiol. 2018 Sep 10 - "Topically applied carnosine protects against the glycation induced by MG. Novel FC-CARN significantly reduced levels of AGEs in both epidermis and reticular dermis in human skin explants" -  Note:  I'm sticking with the oral form.
• β-Alanine Supplementation Improved Workload Capacity and Cognitive Function of Middle Age Individuals - FASEB Journal, Mar 2016 - "Sarcopenia, the age induced wasting of skeletal muscle, has been seen to be tightly associated with significantly decreased systemic carnosine stores. β-alanine supplementation has previously been shown to increase systemic carnosine concentrations in young adults. Increasing systemic carnosine may result in enhanced antioxidant and pH buffering capabilities within its main storage sites of skeletal muscle and brain tissue. This enhancement may result in improved submaximal endurance exercise capacity and in the prevention of exercise associated cognitive decline ... Before supplementation, average time-to-exhaustion (TTE) for the β-alanine group and Placebo group was 17.3±10.2 and 22.9±10.2 minutes, respectively. After supplementation, all subjects increased their TTE; with β-alanine supplemented subjects cycling significantly longer than those on Placebo (7.9±1.4 vs 0.9±2.5 minutes, respectively, P<0.01). Placebo subjects were 8.9±2.0 seconds slower in completing the Stroop Test at T4 compared to T3 (P=0.04), while the β-alanine group (1.9±2.0 seconds, P=0.8) was not slower at this time point" - [Nutra USA] - See beta-alanine at Amazon.com.
• Nutraceutical intervention reverses the negative effects of blood from aged rats on stem cells - Age (Dordr). 2015 Oct - "Aging is associated with a decline in function in many of the stem cell niches of the body. An emerging body of literature suggests that one of the reasons for this decline in function is due to cell non-autonomous influences on the niche from the body ... We examined if we could reverse this effect of aged serum on stem cell proliferation by treating aged rats with NT-020, a dietary supplement containing blueberry, green tea, vitamin D3, and carnosine that has been shown to increase neurogenesis in aged rats. Young and aged rats were administered either control NIH-31 diet or one supplemented with NT-020 for 28 days, and serum was collected upon euthanasia ... Serum from aged rats significantly reduced cell proliferation as measured by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) assays in both NPCs and MSCs. Serum from aged rats treated with NT-020 was not different from serum from young rats. Therefore, NT-020 rescued the effect of serum from aged rats to reduce stem cell proliferation"
• Carnosine reverses the aging-induced down regulation of brain regional serotonergic system - Mech Ageing Dev. 2015 Sep 10 - "These results suggest that carnosine attenuates and restores the aging-induced brain regional down regulation of serotonergic system towards that observed in young rats' brain regions" - See carnosine products at Amazon.com.
• Carnosine and vitamin E - a promising pair in the combat against testicular oxidative stress in aged rats - Andrologia. 2014 Dec 29 - "Oxidative stress is considered to play a key role in ageing. Carnosine alone or together with vitamin E may prove to be helpful in dealing with problems of ageing through its antioxidant activity. Testis, by producing steroids and possessing a poor antioxidant system may become a strong target for the chronic oxidative stress generated during ageing ... Carnosine plus vitamin E treatment appears to stage a powerful performance by attenuating testicular oxidative stress and sparing the antioxidant system" - See carnosine products at Amazon.com and Jarrow FamilE (contains all eight members of the vitamin E family, includes Tocomin) at Amazon.com.
• L-carnosine alters some hemorheologic and lipid peroxidation parameters in nephrectomized rats - Med Sci Monit. 2014 Mar 11 - "Chronic kidney disease (CKD) ... L-carnosine is known as an antioxidant ...We found that carnosine has beneficial effects on CKD in terms of lipid peroxidation and RBC deformability. Carnosine may have a healing effect in microcirculation level, but may not have any effect on systemic blood pressure in CKD-induced rats"
• Supplementation with carnosine decreases plasma triglycerides and modulates atherosclerotic plaque composition in diabetic apo E(-/-) mice - Atherosclerosis. 2014 Feb;232(2):403-9 - "a significant (~23%) lowering of triglyceride levels in the carnosine-supplemented groups ... These data indicate that in a well-established model of diabetes-associated atherosclerosis, prolonged carnosine supplementation enhances plasma levels, and has novel and significant effects on atherosclerotic lesion lipid, collagen and macrophage levels. These data are consistent with greater lesion stability, a key goal in treatment of existing cardiovascular disease. Carnosine supplementation may therefore be of benefit in lowering triglyceride levels and suppressing plaque instability in diabetes-associated atherosclerosis"
• Aging risk factors and Parkinson's disease: contrasting roles of common dietary constituents - Neurobiol Aging. 2013 Dec 4 - "There is evidence, which indicates that excessive carbohydrate (glucose or fructose) catabolism is a cause of mitochondrial dysfunction in PD, one consequence is increased production of methylglyoxal (MG). However, other dietary components (carnosine and certain plant extracts) not only scavenge MG but can also influence some of the biochemical events (signal transduction, stress protein synthesis, glycation, and toxin generation) associated with PD pathology. As double blind, placebo-controlled carnosine supplementation studies have revealed beneficial outcomes in humans, it is suggested that MG scavengers such as carnosine be further explored for their therapeutic potential toward PD"
• Carnosine mitigates apoptosis and protects testicular seminiferous tubules from gamma-radiation-induced injury in mice - Andrologia. 2013 Nov 12 - "Carnosine was administered (10, 50 and 100 mg kg-1 body weight) to male mice via intraperitoneal injection for 4 days prior to gamma irradiation (2 Gy) ... These results indicate that carnosine prevents testicular dysfunction induced by gamma-irradiation via an anti-apoptotic effect; this restoration of proper testicular function ultimately leads to the recovery of spermatogenesis"
• Carnosine inhibits KRAS-mediated HCT116 proliferation by affecting ATP and ROS production - Cancer Lett. 2011 Aug 5 - "Carnosine is a natural dipeptide that has generated particular interest for its antioxidant, anti-aging and especially for its antiproliferative properties. In this study, we demonstrate that carnosine inhibits the proliferation of human HCT116 colon cancer cells ... Our findings support the concept that carnosine could inhibit HCT116 cell growth via its antioxidant activity and its ability to affect glycolysis"
• Antioxidative and Anti-Inflammatory Protection from Carnosine in the Striatum of MPTP-Treated Mice - J Agric Food Chem. 2010 Oct 6 - "The preintake of carnosine significantly attenuated MPTP-induced glutathione loss, retained the activity of GPX and SOD, diminished oxidative stress, and lowered inflammatory cytokines and nitrite levels as well as suppressed iNOS activity (P < 0.05). MPTP treatment significantly suppressed GPX mRNA expression and enhanced iNOS mRNA expression (P < 0.05). Carnosine preintake significantly elevated GPX mRNA expression and declined iNOS mRNA expression (P < 0.05). Preintake of carnosine also significantly improved MPTP-induced dopamine depletion and maintained 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and homovanillic acid levels (P < 0.05). These results suggest that carnosine could provide antioxidative and anti-inflammatory protection for the striatum against the development of Parkinson's disease"
• Carnosine facilitates nitric oxide production in endothelial f-2 cells - Biol Pharm Bull. 2009 Nov;32(11):1836-9 - "These results indicate that carnosine facilitates NO production in endothelial F-2 cells. It is also suggested that eNOS is activated by Ca2+, which might be released from intracellular Ca2+ stores in response to carnosine"