Dual effects of dietary carnosine during in vitro digestion of a Western meal model with added ascorbic acid.

The beneficial role of carnosine during in vitro digestion of meat was previously demonstrated, and it was hypothesized that such benefits could also be obtained in a meal system. The current study, therefore, assessed carnosine effects on markers of lipid and protein oxidation and of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) during gastric and duodenal in vitro digestion of a burger meal model. The model included intrinsic (low) and enhanced (medium and high) carnosine levels in a mix of pork mince and bread, with or without ascorbic acid (AA) and/or fructose as anti- and prooxidants, respectively. In the presence of either AA or fructose, a carnosine prooxidative potential during digestion was observed at the medium carnosine level depending on markers and digestive phases. However, free carnosine found at the high carnosine level exerted a protective effect reducing the formation of 4-hydroxynonenal in the gastric phase and glyoxal in both the gastric and duodenal phases. Dual effects of carnosine are likely concentration related, whereby at the medium level, free radical production increases through carnosine's ferric-reducing capacity, but there is insufficient quantity to reduce the resulting oxidation, while at the higher carnosine level some decreases in oxidation are observed. In order to obtain carnosine benefits during meal digestion, these findings demonstrate that consideration must be given to the amount and nature of other anti- and prooxidants present and any potential interactions. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Carnosine, a natural compound in meat, is a multifunctional and beneficial molecule for health. However, both pro- and antioxidative effects of carnosine were observed during digestion of a model burger meal when ascorbic acid was included at a supplemental level. Therefore, to obtain benefits of dietary carnosine during digestion of a meal, consideration needs to be given to the amount and nature of all anti- and prooxidants present and any potential interactions.

Protective effects of dietary carnosine during in-vitro digestion of pork differing in fat content and cooking conditions.

Muscle carnosine represents an important health advantage of meat. Ground pork samples with intrinsic or added carnosine; fat content; and cooked under low or high intensity as a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial were digested in-vitro. Changes in free carnosine and in markers of lipid (hexanal, 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE), malondialdehyde (MDA) and protein (protein-carbonyls, thiols) oxidation, and of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) Nε -(carboxymethyl)lysine (CML) were determined in the saliva, gastric, and duodenal digests. During digestion, the different markers overall indicated increased oxidation and decreased free carnosine. Increasing pork carnosine level significantly reduced protein carbonyls, loss of thiols, and 4-HNE during in-vitro gastric digestion, irrespective of fat and cooking level of the meat. Increased carnosine also significantly reduced hexanal, MDA and CML up to the duodenum phase in moderately cooked lean pork. Besides substantiating the formation of AGEs during digestion, these results show a potentially important role of dietary carnosine occurring in the gastrointestinal tract. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: The ailments epidemiologically associated with red meat consumption could be counteracted by ingesting carnosine into meat. The health advantages of dietary carnosine, however, have never been demonstrated during digestion, a unique and complex oxidative environment compounded by the composition and cooking of the meat. The results obtained substantiated that AGEs formation occurred in-vitro in the GIT. They also showed that increased carnosine had an immediate health beneficial role during pork digestion in reducing the formation of different harmful molecules, including AGEs, modulated by the composition and cooking of the meat. However, in exerting this protective role in the GIT, the remaining free level of carnosine, gradually decreased during digestion. Carnosine, as an important meat compositional factor may, depending on the fat content and cooking conditions, change the image of meat from representing a health risk to a health benefit. Carnosine level may also explain discrepancies observed in the literature.

Identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms in carnosine-related genes and effects of genotypes on pork meat quality attributes.

Carnosine has pH-buffering and antioxidant properties that may bring advantages in terms of meat quality attributes. This study aimed at identifying polymorphisms in carnosine-related genes (CARNS1, SLC6A6, SLC15A3, SLC15A4) that might associate with muscle carnosine content and meat quality traits in pigs (Duroc, Landrace, Yorkshire). Twenty seven SNPs were identified and association analyses performed for SLC15A3 c.*35C>T and c.*52C>T (3' UTR region), and SLC15A4 c.658A>G (Ile220Val) and c.818G>A (Ser273Asn) SNPs. Associations were observed for SNP c.658A>G with carnosine content, color b* and L*, drip and cooking losses, pH24h and glycolytic potential values (P≤0.05). The same associations were observed for SNP c.818G>A, but they were not significant after FDR correction. Results suggest that specific SLC15A4 gene variants might increase muscle carnosine content and improve meat quality. With a minor allele frequency of 0.17 for SNP c.658A>G in Yorkshire pigs, selection in favor of the c.658A allele may be considered as a mean to improve pork quality attributes.

Carnosine content in the porcine longissimus thoracis muscle and its association with meat quality attributes and carnosine-related gene expression.

Muscle carnosine has pH-buffering, antioxidant and carbonyl scavenging properties, which may affect pork quality attributes. Study objectives were to: (1) compare muscle carnosine content and carnosine-related gene mRNA abundance in purebred pigs (n=282), (2) study the effect of muscle carnosine content on pork quality attributes and gene expression across breeds, and (3) study transcript abundance of carnosine-related genes in various tissues. Pigs were raised under similar conditions and slaughtered at 120±4.5kg. Longissimus thoracis muscles were sampled on the dressing line for gene expression and at 24h for meat quality measurements. Muscle carnosine content and carnosine-related gene mRNA abundance were modulated according to pig breeds. Greater pH24h, better water holding capacity and improved meat color values were found in pigs with high muscle carnosine content. Data suggest that high muscle carnosine is associated with improved pork meat quality attributes. The pig genetic background may be a key determinant for muscle carnosine content regulation.

Occlusive thrombi arise in mammals but not birds in response to arterial injury: evolutionary insight into human cardiovascular disease.

Mammalian platelets are small, anuclear circulating cells that form tightly adherent, shear-resistant thrombi to prevent blood loss after vessel injury. Platelet thrombi that form in coronary and carotid arteries also underlie common vascular diseases such as myocardial infarction and stroke and are the target of drugs used to treat these diseases. Birds have high-pressure cardiovascular systems like mammals but generate nucleated thrombocytes rather than platelets. Here, we show that avian thrombocytes respond to many of the same activating stimuli as mammalian platelets but are unable to form shear-resistant aggregates ex vivo. Avian thrombocytes are larger than mammalian platelets, spread less efficiently on collagen, and express much lower levels of the α(2b)ß3 integrin required for aggregate formation, features predicted to make thrombocyte aggregates less resistant than platelets are to the high fluid shear forces of the arterial vasculature. In vivo carotid vessel injury stimulates the formation of occlusive platelet thrombi in mice but not in the size- and flow-matched carotid artery of the Australian budgerigar. These studies indicate that unique physical and molecular features of mammalian platelets enable them to form shear-resistant arterial thrombi, an essential element in the pathogenesis of human cardiovascular diseases.

Comparative study of bovine, porcine and avian collagens for the production of a tissue engineered dermis.

Combining bovine collagen with chitosan followed by freeze-drying has been shown to produce porous scaffolds suitable for skin and connective tissue engineering applications. In this study collagen extracted from porcine and avian skin was compared with bovine collagen for the production of tissue engineered scaffolds. A similar purity of the collagen extracts was shown by electrophoresis, confirming the reliability of the extraction process. Collagen was solubilized, cross-linked by adding chitosan to the solution and freeze-dried to generate a porous structure suitable for tissue engineering applications. Scaffold porosity and pore morphology were shown to be source dependant, with bovine collagen and avian collagen resulting into the smallest and largest pores, respectively. Scaffolds were seeded with dermal fibroblasts and cultured for 35 days to evaluate the suitability of the different collagen-chitosan scaffolds for long-term tissue engineered dermal substitute maturation in vitro. Cell proliferation and scaffold biocompatibility were found to be similar for all the collagen-chitosan scaffolds, demonstrating their capability to support long-term cell adhesion and growth. The scaffolds contents was assessed by immunohistochemistry and showed increased deposition of extracellular matrix by the cells as a function of time. These results correlate with measurements of the mechanical properties of the scaffolds, since both the ultimate tensile strength and tensile modulus of the cell seeded scaffolds had increased by the end of the culture period. This experiment demonstrates that porcine and avian collagen could be used as an alternative to bovine collagen in the production of collagen-chitosan scaffolding materials.