Expression profiles of carnosine synthesis-related genes in mice after ingestion of carnosine or ß-alanine

Background: carnosine is a dipeptide that improves exercise performance. the carnosine synthesis mechanism through carnosine and ß-alanine ingestion remains unclear. therefore,we investigated the tissue distribution of carnosine synthase,atp-grasp domain-containing protein-1 (atpgd1) mrna,and atpgd1 and carnosine specific dipeptidase (cn1) gene expression profiles in mice that were given carnosine or ß-alanine orally.methods: ddy mice (7-week-old) were randomly divided into three groups (n = 6 to 8 animals per group) and were orally given 2 g/kg body weight of carnosine,ß-alanine,or water. after 15,30,60,120,180,or 360 min of treatment,the tissues (brain,blood,liver,kidneys,olfactory bulbs,hindleg muscles) were collected. the obtained tissues measured the expression of atpgd1 and cn1 genes using quantitative pcr methods.results: the atpgd1 gene was expressed in muscle and to a lesser extent in brain. the expression of atpgd1 in the vastus lateralis muscle increased significantly at 180 min (p = 0.023) after carnosine ingestion and 60 (p = 0.023) and 180 min (p = 0.025) after ß-alanine ingestion. moreover,the carnosine group showed a significantly increased renal expression of the cn1 gene 60 min after ingestion (p = 0.0015).conclusions: the atpgd1 gene showed high expression levels in brain and muscle. the ß-alanine or carnosine administration significantly increased atpgd1 and cn1 expression in mice. © 2012 miyaji et al; licensee biomed central ltd.