title: The presence and significance of carnosine in histamine-containing tissues of several mammalian species.
abstract: Histamine is known to exert profound effects on the cardiovascular system in many mammals. Carnosine (beta-alanyl-L-histidine) is a dipeptide previously known to be present only in a few tissues. It is our hypothesis that carnosine serves as a non-mast cell reservoir for histidine, available for histamine synthesis during periods of physiologic stress. To validate this hypothesis, we demonstrated the existence of carnosine in multiple histamine-rich tissues in several mammalian species; documented a metabolic link between carnosine and histidine, histamine and 3-methylhistamine (a degradation product of histamine) in unstressed animals, and showed that tissue carnosine is decreased simultaneously with an increase in tissue histamine during stress.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Flancbaum
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Fitzpatrick
authors.forename: D N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Brotman
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Marcoux
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kasziba
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fisher
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D002336:Carnosine / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006632:Histamine / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D006639:Histidine / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000737:chemistry; D008297:Male; D008761:Methylhistamines / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D009206:Myocardium / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013154:Spleen / Q000737:chemistry; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D003189:p-Methoxy-N-methylphenethylamine / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D008761:Methylhistamines; D003189:p-Methoxy-N-methylphenethylamine; D006639:Histidine; C031205:3-methylhistamine; D006632:Histamine; D002336:Carnosine