Carnosine and anserine concentrations in the quadriceps femoris muscle of healthy humans

Summary

The content of anserine and carnosine in the lateral portion of the quadriceps femoris muscle of 50 healthy, human subjects has been studied. Anserine was undetectable in all muscle samples examined. Muscle carnosine values for the group conformed to a normal distribution with a mean (SD) value of 20.0 (4.7) mmol · kg⁻¹ of dry muscle mass. The concentration of carnosine was significantly higher in the muscle of male subjects (21.3, 4.2 mmol · kg⁻¹ dry mass) than in females of a similar age and training status (17.5, 4.8 mmol · kg⁻¹ dry mass) (P< 0.005). The test-retest reliability of measures was determined on a subgroup of 17 subjects. No significant difference in mean carnosine concentration was found between the two trials [21.5 (4.0) and 22.0 (5.2) mmol · kg⁻¹ dry muscle mass; P>0.05]. The importance of carnosine as a physicochemical buffer within human muscle was examined by calculating its buffering ability over the physiological pH range. From the range of carnosine concentrations observed (7.2–30.7 mmol · kg⁻¹ dry muscle mass), it was estimated that the dipeptide could buffer between 2.4 and 10.1 mmol H⁺ · kg⁻¹ dry mass over the physiological pH range 7.1–6.5, contributing, on average, approximately 7% to the total muscle buffering. This suggests that in humans, in contrast to many other species, carnosine is of only limited importance in preventing the reduction in pH observed during high intensity exercise.