Plasma concentrations of anserine, carnosine and pi-methylhistidine as biomarkers of habitual meat consumption

Abstract

Our results indicate an association between habitual meat consumption and plasma concentrations of anserine, carnosine, Π-MH and the ratio of T-MH to Π-MH. Intervention studies should clarify whether the analyzed plasma metabolites are indicative for a specific type of meat before proposing them as biomarkers of habitual meat intake in epidemiologic studies.

Targeted ultra‐performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometric quantification of methylated amines and selected amino acids in biofluids

“…chicken, whereas carnosine and τ‐ N ‐methylhistidine showed no specificity. This is in accordance with the previous findings . Moreover, a number of further analytes showed moderate associations with total meat consumption, especially γ‐butyrobetaine (ρ = 0.45; p = 0.0004), but also carnitine.…”

“…Participants used standard units (such as slice of bread, soup bowl), household measurements (such as tablespoon) and a picture booklet providing photographs of portion sizes for various foods to indicate the consumed amount per meal. Based on the literature, we selected a subset of 69 participants from this study group with either a high consumption of coffee, citrus fruits, fish and seafood, or total meat (including sausages and meat products), also stratified into white and red meat or a negligible consumption of the respective foods. Thus, a comparison of metabolite concentrations between consumers and non‐consumers or high and low consumption, respectively, could be performed for selected foods.…”

“…Several methylamines were found to be associated with the consumption of specific foods, including trigonelline for coffee, stachydrine (proline‐betaine) for citrus fruits, trimethylamine‐ N ‐oxide (TMAO) for fish, or histidine‐containing compounds ( N ‐methylhistidine isomers, dipeptides anserine and carnosine) for meat . In the context of physical activity, it has been reported that certain compounds are increased after heavy exercise, such as β‐aminoisobutyric acid, or correlate inversely with fitness (e.g.…”

“…Quantification of methylated arginine compounds such as ADMA is established in a clinical context . Dipeptides and methylhistidines were described recently as putative markers of meat intake . However, methods integrating a high number of these compounds into one validated quantitative method are scarce.…”

“…(TMAO) for fish, [8][9][10][11][12] or histidine-containing compounds (Nmethylhistidine isomers, dipeptides anserine and carnosine) for meat. 11,[13][14][15][16][17] In the context of physical activity, it has been reported that certain compounds are increased after heavy exercise, such as β-aminoisobutyric acid, 18 or correlate inversely with fitness (e.g. asymmetric N,N-dimethylarginine, ADMA).…”