Is Meat a New Source of Antioxidants?

Imidazole dipeptide in seafood and poultry could be a source of antioxidants

Highlights:

Imidazole dipeptides are prevalent in meat, fish, and poultry
It has been noted that they have antioxidant effects
Imidazole dipeptide supplementation can also be taken as it has a positive impact on health

Imidazole dipeptides (IDPs), which are prevalent in meat and fish, are compounds produced in the bodies of numerous animals, including humans, and have been shown to be effective in the treatment of fatigue and the prevention of dementia. However, the physiological mechanism through which IDPs display these behaviors has not previously been discovered.

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‘There are antioxidants in chicken, pig, and beef that may assist in fatigue reduction and dementia therapy. Imidazole dipeptides (IDPs), which are common in meat and seafood, are compounds produced by various mammals, including humans’

What is Imidazole Dipeptide?

Imidazole dipeptide is primarily found in vertebrate muscle tissue. It can also be found in invertebrate tissue. The most common imidazole dipeptides are carnosine, anserine, balerine/ophidine, homocarnosine, acetyl-carnosine, and carnitine. Carnosine is found in human skeletal muscle and can also be found in the brain and other tissues other than muscle tissue, although its quantity in the blood is exceedingly low due to the presence of a carnosine-degrading enzyme in human plasma. Beef and pork have just carnosine, but chicken has both anserine and carnosine. Balerine/ ophidine is present in the muscle of snakes and whales ().

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What are the Benefits of Imidazole Dipeptide?

Recent studies have revealed that imidazole dipeptide has a wide range of biological actions. Carnosine, for example, possesses antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiaggregant, and neuroprotective properties. As a result, carnosine has been thought to play a beneficial function in Alzheimer's disease ().

A team led by Professor Hideshi Ihara of Osaka Metropolitan University's Graduate School of Science was the first to discover 2-oxo-imidazole-containing dipeptides (2-oxo-IDPs), which has one more oxygen atom than normal IDPs, and discovered that they are the most common type of IDP derivative in the body. They also have remarkably strong antioxidant activity, according to the experts.

The researchers used mass spectrometry to develop a method for selective and extremely sensitive detection of five types of 2-oxo-IDPs, allowing quantitative detection of trace 2-oxo-IDPs in living organisms. They discovered for the first time using this technology that beef, pork, chicken, and other meats contain antioxidants, including not just IDPs but also a variety of other 2-oxo-IDPs. These findings were reported in the journal Antioxidants.

"We hope that this study method, which allows for advanced analysis of 2-oxo-IDPs, will be applied not only to basic biology but also to medicine, agriculture, and pharmacy, where it can help improve people's health and avoid diseases," Professor Ihara concluded.

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How to Get Your Daily Dose of Imidazole Dipeptide

If you are not able to get it through meat and poultry, then supplements are your solution.

Meats high in imidazole dipeptides include poultry, fish, and pork. Data from recent human intervention trials conducted globally show that regular supplementation of carnosine and anserine, both imidazole dipeptides, can enhance memory loss in the elderly and lessen the chance of acquiring Alzheimer's disease ().

Reference:

Influence of Imidazole-Dipeptides on Cognitive Status and Preservation in Elders: A Narrative Review - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7912684/)

Source-Medindia

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