Taiken Sakano, Ai Saiga Egusa, Yoko Kawauchi, Jiawei Wu, Toshihide Nishimura, Nobuhiro Nakao, Ayumu Kuramoto, Takumi Kawashima, Shigenobu Shiotani, Yukio Okada, Kenichiro Sato, Nobuya Yanai
Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry, 86(9) 1276-1285, May 31, 2022 Peer-reviewed
Abstract
Imidazole dipeptides (ID) are abundant in skeletal muscle and the brain and have various functions, such as antioxidant, pH-buffering, metal-ion chelation. However, the physiological significance of ID has not been fully elucidated. In this study, we orally administered ID to conventional carnosine synthase gene-deficient mice (Carns-KO mice) to investigate the pharmacokinetics. Carnosine or anserine was administered at a dose of 500 mg (approximately 2 mmol) per kilogram of mouse body weight, and ID contents in the tissues were measured. No ID were detected in untreated Carns-KO mice. In the ID treatment groups, the ID concentrations in the tissues increased in a time-dependent manner in the gastrocnemius muscle, soleus muscle, and cerebrum after ID administration. Our findings suggest that the Carns-KO mice are a valuable animal model for directly evaluate the effects of dietary ID and for elucidating the physiological functions of oral ID administration.
