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Amino Acids Mar 2020Taurine (a sulfur-containing β-amino acid), creatine (a metabolite of arginine, glycine and methionine), carnosine (a dipeptide; β-alanyl-L-histidine), and... (Review)
Review
Taurine (a sulfur-containing β-amino acid), creatine (a metabolite of arginine, glycine and methionine), carnosine (a dipeptide; β-alanyl-L-histidine), and 4-hydroxyproline (an imino acid; also often referred to as an amino acid) were discovered in cattle, and the discovery of anserine (a methylated product of carnosine; β-alanyl-1-methyl-L-histidine) also originated with cattle. These five nutrients are highly abundant in beef, and have important physiological roles in anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory reactions, as well as neurological, muscular, retinal, immunological and cardiovascular function. Of particular note, taurine, carnosine, anserine, and creatine are absent from plants, and hydroxyproline is negligible in many plant-source foods. Consumption of 30 g dry beef can fully meet daily physiological needs of the healthy 70-kg adult human for taurine and carnosine, and can also provide large amounts of creatine, anserine and 4-hydroxyproline to improve human nutrition and health, including metabolic, retinal, immunological, muscular, cartilage, neurological, and cardiovascular health. The present review provides the public with the much-needed knowledge of nutritionally and physiologically significant amino acids, dipeptides and creatine in animal-source foods (including beef). Dietary taurine, creatine, carnosine, anserine and 4-hydroxyproline are beneficial for preventing and treating obesity, cardiovascular dysfunction, and ageing-related disorders, as well as inhibiting tumorigenesis, improving skin and bone health, ameliorating neurological abnormalities, and promoting well being in infants, children and adults. Furthermore, these nutrients may promote the immunological defense of humans against infections by bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses (including coronavirus) through enhancing the metabolism and functions of monocytes, macrophages, and other cells of the immune system. Red meat (including beef) is a functional food for optimizing human growth, development and health.
Topics: Animals; Anserine; Carnosine; Cattle; Creatine; Humans; Hydroxyproline; Nutritive Value; Red Meat; Taurine
PubMed: 32072297
DOI: 10.1007/s00726-020-02823-6 -
Journal of Sport and Health Science Jul 2022Although the structural and functional effects of exercise on the heart are well established, the metabolic changes that occur in the heart during and after exercise...
Although the structural and functional effects of exercise on the heart are well established, the metabolic changes that occur in the heart during and after exercise remain unclear. In this study, we used metabolomics to assess time-dependent changes in the murine cardiac metabolome following 1 session of treadmill exercise. After the exercise bout, we also recorded blood lactate, glucose, and ketone body levels and measured cardiac mitochondrial respiration. In both male and female mice, moderate- and high-intensity exercise acutely increased blood lactate levels. In both sexes, low- and moderate-intensity exercise augmented circulating 3-hydroxybutryrate levels immediately after the exercise bout; however, only in female mice did high-intensity exercise increase 3-hydroxybutyrate levels, with significant increases occurring 1 h after the exercise session. Untargeted metabolomics analyses of sedentary female and male hearts suggest considerable sex-dependent differences in basal cardiac metabolite levels, with female hearts characterized by higher levels of pantothenate, pyridoxamine, homoarginine, tryptophan, and several glycerophospholipid and sphingomyelin species and lower levels of numerous metabolites, including acetyl coenzyme A, glucuronate, gulonate, hydroxyproline, prolyl-hydroxyproline, carnosine, anserine, and carnitinylated and glycinated species, as compared with male hearts. Immediately after a bout of treadmill exercise, both male and female hearts had higher levels of corticosterone; however, female mice showed more extensive exercise-induced changes in the cardiac metabolome, characterized by significant, time-dependent changes in amino acids (e.g., serine, alanine, tyrosine, tryptophan, branched-chain amino acids) and the ketone body 3-hydroxybutyrate. Results from experiments using isolated cardiac mitochondria suggest that high-intensity treadmill exercise does not acutely affect respiration or mitochondrial coupling; however, female cardiac mitochondria demonstrate generally higher adenosine diphosphate sensitivity compared with male cardiac mitochondria. Collectively, these findings in mice reveal key sex-dependent differences in cardiac metabolism and suggest that the metabolic network in the female heart is more responsive to physiological stress caused by exercise.
Topics: 3-Hydroxybutyric Acid; Animals; Female; Lactates; Male; Mice; Mitochondria, Heart; Physical Conditioning, Animal; Tryptophan
PubMed: 35688382
DOI: 10.1016/j.jshs.2022.06.001 -
Skeletal Radiology Nov 2019The ultrasound examination of hamstrings inspires respect due to the connective complexity of their structures, particularly for sonographers who are not used to this... (Review)
Review
The ultrasound examination of hamstrings inspires respect due to the connective complexity of their structures, particularly for sonographers who are not used to this kind of study. Therefore, it is important to know the specific ultrasound reference points that facilitate the location of the hamstring structures, dividing them into four areas of interest: (a) tendinous origin of the hamstring, (b) the proximal half, (c) distal and medial half, and (d) distal and lateral half. The origin of the hamstrings is found at the level of the ischial tuberosity. Here, the connective structures under study are the common tendon and the semimembranosus tendon, together with the muscle fibers more proximal to the semitendinosus, which can also be assessed through ultrasound locating the ischial tuberosity. The proximal half of the thigh consists of a characteristic structure made up by the common tendon, the sciatic nerve and the semimembranosus tendon, enabling to define the biceps femoris and the semitendinosus, respectively. To identify the distal and medial section, the volumetric relationship between the ST and SM muscle masses is used, where it is also possible to identify the three muscles in the knee that make up the pes anserine. To identify the distal and lateral sections, the sciatic nerve pathway is followed until identifying both heads of the biceps femoris. These four areas of interest, with their specific landmarks, show a tuning fork that enables the comprehensive study of hamstrings through ultrasound.
Topics: Hamstring Muscles; Humans; Ultrasonography
PubMed: 30997529
DOI: 10.1007/s00256-019-03208-x -
Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) Jun 2023Carnosine and anserine supplementation markedLy reduce diabetic nephropathy in rodents. The mode of nephroprotective action of both dipeptides in diabetes, via local...
Carnosine and anserine supplementation markedLy reduce diabetic nephropathy in rodents. The mode of nephroprotective action of both dipeptides in diabetes, via local protection or improved systemic glucose homeostasis, is uncertain. Global carnosinase-1 knockout mice (-KO) and wild-type littermates (WT) on a normal diet (ND) and high fat diet (HFD) ( = 10/group), with streptozocin (STZ)-induced type-1 diabetes ( = 21-23/group), were studied for 32 weeks. Independent of diet, -KO mice had 2- to 10-fold higher kidney anserine and carnosine concentrations than WT mice, but otherwise a similar kidney metabolome; heart, liver, muscle and serum anserine and carnosine concentrations were not different. Diabetic -KO mice did not differ from diabetic WT mice in energy intake, body weight gain, blood glucose, HbA1c, insulin and glucose tolerance with both diets, whereas the diabetes-related increase in kidney advanced glycation end-product and 4-hydroxynonenal concentrations was prevented in the KO mice. Tubular protein accumulation was lower in diabetic ND and HFD -KO mice, interstitial inflammation and fibrosis were lower in diabetic HFD -KO mice compared to diabetic WT mice. Fatalities occurred later in diabetic ND -KO mice versus WT littermates. Independent of systemic glucose homeostasis, increased kidney anserine and carnosine concentrations reduce local glycation and oxidative stress in type-1 diabetic mice, and mitigate interstitial nephropathy in type-1 diabetic mice on HFD.
PubMed: 37372000
DOI: 10.3390/antiox12061270 -
Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) Dec 2022Anserine and carnosine have nephroprotective actions; hydrogen sulfide (HS) protects from ischemic tissue damage, and the underlying mechanisms are debated. In view of...
Anserine and carnosine have nephroprotective actions; hydrogen sulfide (HS) protects from ischemic tissue damage, and the underlying mechanisms are debated. In view of their common interaction with HSP70, we studied possible interactions of both dipeptides with HS. HS formation was measured in human proximal tubular epithelial cells (HK-2); three endothelial cell lines (HUVEC, HUAEC, MCEC); and in renal murine tissue of wild-type (WT), carnosinase-1 knockout -KO) and -KO mice. Diabetes was induced by streptozocin. Incubation with carnosine increased HS synthesis capacity in tubular cells, as well as with anserine in all three endothelial cell lines. HS dose-dependently reduced anserine/carnosine degradation rate by serum and recombinant carnosinase-1 (CN1). Endothelial -KO reduced HS formation and abolished the stimulation by anserine and could be restored by transfection. In female -KO mice, kidney HS formation was halved. In -KO mice, kidney anserine concentrations were several-fold and sex-specifically increased. Kidney HS formation capacity was increased 2-3-fold in female mice and correlated with anserine and carnosine concentrations. In diabetic -KO mice, renal anserine and carnosine concentrations as well as HS formation capacity were markedly reduced compared to non-diabetic -KO littermates. Anserine and carnosine induce HS formation in a cell-type and Hsp70-specific manner within a positive feedback loop with CN1.
PubMed: 36670928
DOI: 10.3390/antiox12010066