No Effect of Acute Balenine Supplementation on Maximal and Submaximal Exercise Performance in Recreational Cyclists

Abstract

Carnosine (β-alanyl-L-histidine) and its methylated analogues anserine and balenine are highly concentrated endogenous dipeptides in mammalian skeletal muscle that are implicated in exercise performance. Balenine has a much better bioavailability and stability in human circulation upon acute ingestion, compared to carnosine and anserine. Therefore, ergogenic effects observed with acute carnosine and anserine supplementation may be even more pronounced with balenine. This study investigated whether acute balenine supplementation improves physical performance in four maximal and submaximal exercise modalities. A total of 20 healthy, active volunteers (14 males; six females) performed cycling sprints, maximal isometric contractions, a 4-km TT and 20-km TT following either preexercise placebo or 10 mg/kg of balenine ingestion. Physical, as well as mental performance, along with acid–base balance and glucose concentration were assessed. Balenine was unable to augment peak power (p = .3553), peak torque (p = .3169), time to complete the 4 km (p = .8566), nor 20 km time trial (p = .2660). None of the performances were correlated with plasma balenine or CN1 enzyme activity. In addition, no effect on pH, bicarbonate, and lactate was observed. Also, the supplement did not affect mental performance. In contrast, glucose remained higher during and after the 20 km time trial following balenine ingestion. In conclusion, these results overall indicate that the functionality of balenine does not fully resemble that of carnosine and anserine, since it was unable to elicit performance improvements with similar and even higher plasma concentrations.

Extensive profiling of histidine-containing dipeptides reveals species- and tissue-specific distribution and metabolism in mice, rats and humans

“…Details of the validation of the in-house developed UHPLC-MS/MS analysis has been described previously ( 69 ), with the exception that all experiments were performed on a Xevo ® TQ-S MS/MS system with 2.5 μL injection volume. The limit of detection was determined to be 5-10 nM (in plasma), corresponding to 0.38-0.76 μmol/kg tissue for our homogenization protocol.…”

Extensive profiling of histidine‐containing dipeptides reveals species‐ and tissue‐specific distribution and metabolism in mice, rats, and humans

“…Details of the validation of the in‐house developed UHPLC–MS/MS analysis have been described previously, 77,78 and are presented in Table S2‐S6. The limit of detection was determined to be 5–10 nM (in plasma), corresponding to 0.38–0.76 μmol/kg tissue for our homogenization protocol.…”

State of the Art in the Development of Human Serum Carnosinase Inhibitors

“…Such peptides are substrates of serum carnosinase, but unlike carnosine, they are detectable in human plasma upon supplementation [ 41 , 58 , 125 ]. However, carnosine showed better activity both in vitro and in vivo [ 126 , 127 , 128 ]. Therefore, a potential strategy to enhance carnosine bioavailability is to transport the molecule by means of drug delivery systems able to prevent the hydrolysis operated by serum carnosinase [ 129 ].…”