The influence of habitual protein consumption on muscle carnosine content in omnivores and vegetarians

• Grant number: 23/16655-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2024
• End date: February 28, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Nutrition
• Principal Investigator: Bryan Saunders
• Grantee: Guilherme Bracco Mendes de Oliveira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FM). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Carnosine is a dipeptide formed by the amino acids L-histidine and ²-alanine, and its main effect is intracellular pH buffering. It is known that ²-alanine intake is the main way to increase muscle carnosine concentrations, with omnivores having two or more times higher amounts than vegetarians. However, the relationship between muscle carnosine content and habitual protein intake is still unclear. There are no studies that correlate the amount of protein ingested in the diet with muscle carnosine content in omnivores and vegetarians, or that compare these two groups in light of this variant. In view of these gaps, the present study aims to observe the possible influences of habitual protein intake on muscle carnosine content in these two groups. Twenty healthy men, 10 omnivores and 10 vegetarians aged 18 to 35 years old, will undergo muscle biopsies to obtain muscle samples, in order to assess muscle carnosine content. They will also provide three food recalls from different, non-consecutive days, in order to measure the amount of protein present in the diet. The determination of L-histidine-containing dipeptides in muscle samples will be performed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).In this way, we aim to better understand the factors that lead to increased muscle carnosine, which could contribute to the development of dietary protocols for this purpose independently of ²-alanine intake.