Impairment of electron transfer chain induced by acute carnosine administration in skeletal muscle of young rats.

Serum carnosinase deficiency is an inherited disorder that leads to an accumulation of carnosine in the brain tissue, cerebrospinal fluid, skeletal muscle, and other tissues of affected patients. Considering that high levels of carnosine are associated with neurological dysfunction and that the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in serum carnosinase deficiency remain poorly understood, we investigated the in vivo effects of carnosine on bioenergetics parameters, namely, respiratory chain complexes (I-III, II, and II-III), malate dehydrogenase, succinate dehydrogenase, and creatine kinase activities and the expression of mitochondrial-specific transcription factors (NRF-1, PGC-1α , and TFAM) in skeletal muscle of young Wistar rats. We observed a significant decrease of complexes I-III and II activities in animals receiving carnosine acutely, as compared to control group.