NATURAL HISTIDINE-CONTAINING DIPEPTIDE CARNOSINE AS A POTENT HYDROPHILIC ANTIOXIDANT WITH MEMBRANE STABILIZING FUNCTION - A BIOMEDICAL ASPECT

A review on the distribution and biological effects of carnosine and a hypothesis for its biological mechanisms of action are presented. Car nosine and its structural and functional relative, anserine, were foun d in skeletal muscles at the beginning of the century. Their effects o n muscle-working capacity, on the stability of membrane-bound enzymes, as well as their potent immunomodulating property, could not be expla ined by their pH-buffering capacity or formation of the secondary meta bolites histidine and beta-alanine alone. This article suggests that t he basis for the biological activities of carnosine and relative compo unds is their potent antioxidant and membrane-protecting activity. The plausible chemical mechanism of this activity is discussed, and data regarding the usage of carnosine as a drug for treatment of immunodefi ciency are summarized.