title: Carnosine treatment for gulf war illness: a randomized controlled trial.
abstract: About 25% of 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War veterans experience disabling fatigue, widespread pain, and cognitive dysfunction termed Gulf War illness (GWI) or Chronic Multisymptom Illness (CMI). A leading theory proposes that wartime exposures initiated prolonged production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and central nervous system injury. The endogenous antioxidant L-carnosine (B-alanyl-L-histidine) is a potential treatment since it is a free radical scavenger in nervous tissue. To determine if nutritional supplementation with L-carnosine would significantly improve pain, cognition and fatigue in GWI, a randomized double blind placebo controlled 12 week dose escalation study involving 25 GWI subjects was employed. L-carnosine was given as 500, 1000, and 1500 mg increasing at 4 week intervals. Outcomes included subjective fatigue, pain and psychosocial questionnaires, and instantaneous fatigue and activity levels recorded by ActiWatch Score devices. Cognitive function was evaluated by WAIS-R digit symbol substitution test. Carnosine had 2 potentially beneficial effects: WAIS-R scores increased significantly, and there was a decrease in diarrhea associated with irritable bowel syndrome. No other significant incremental changes were found. Therefore, 12 weeks of carnosine (1500 mg) may have beneficial cognitive effects in GWI. Fatigue, pain, hyperalgesia, activity and other outcomes were resistant to treatment.
authors.affiliation: Division od Rheumatology, Immunology and Allergy, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20007-2197, USA. baraniuj@georgetown.edu
authors.forename: James Nicholas
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Baraniuk
authors.forename: Suliman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: El-Amin
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Corey
authors.forename: Rakib
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rayhan
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Timbol
mesh_terms: D000975:Antioxidants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002336:Carnosine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005221:Fatigue / Q000188:drug therapy; D005260:Female; D047830:Gulf War; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy; D018923:Persian Gulf Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014728:Veterans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D002336:Carnosine