Definitive guide to L-Carnosine (Ethos Endymion) based on scientific research, field testing and experience. This paper brings together published papers and articles from a number of resources to be found on the Internet. It is intended for use as an instructional tool for the education and enlightenment of ethos members.

Alzheimer�s is an angiogenesis-dependent disease:

Alzheimer's disease seems to be an angiogenesis-dependent disorder (like cancer!). Development of anti-angiogenic drugs targeting the abnormal brain endothelial cell might be able to prevent and treat this disease. An editorial in Lancet suggests several laboratory and clinical approaches for testing the hypothesis.

Brain imaging shows rapid and massive brain cell loss in Alzheimer�s.

The main reason for brain cell destruction in Alzheimer� is probably the inhibition of the proteasome, a protein which removes damaged and denaturated proteins from the brain cells.

Carnosine protects the proteasome and hence fights Alzheimer�s disease. Carnosine is a dipeptide, also called a neuropeptide and neurotransmitter. Patients with Alzheimer�s disease develop extracellular deposits of amyloid protein and microscopic tangles of fibrils inside nerve cells. In experiments, treatment with carnosine was found to reduce or completely prevent cell damage caused by ß-amyloid. Carnosine blocks and inactivates ß-amyloid, so it protects neural tissues against dementia.

Moreover, carnosine protects the brain cells by fighting the highly toxic alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehyde acrolein which is formed during the peroxidation of polyunsaturated lipids, raising the possibility that it functions as a 'toxicological second messenger' during oxidative cell injury.

Brain scan of Alzheimer's patients, the pink area is destroyed brain.

Recent research also confirms that the toxic unsaturated aldehyde crotonaldehyde (CA) contributes to carbolylation resulting in protein damage during lipid peroxidation. As carnosine combats all aldehydes, it offers another explanation for its benefits in prevention of Alzheimer�s disease and other conditions with oxidative stress. Moreover, carnosine protects proteasomes, protein molecules which detoxify the brain cells, and carnosine removes toxic heavy metals from the brain cells in a biochemical process called chelation

Interest in carnosine has increased markedly over the last few years and many experts are predicting it will become the fundamental daily treatment for people of all ages, but in particular those approaching 40 and beyond.

In America, the UK, Australia, Japan, and in Scandinavia, anti-ageing specialists and nutritionist are recommending it as a valuable supplement. There are no known side effects or incompatibility with other drugs.

Cataracts:

Carnosine not only inhibits the formation of AGEs - one of the main causative processes leading to cataracts - it can also protect normal proteins from the toxic effects of AGEs that have already formed. An elegant experiment carried out at King's College, University of London, made this point (Brownson C et al., 2000; Hipkiss AR et al., 2000). The scientists employed a glycating agent called methylglyoxal (MG) that reacts with lysine and arginine residues in body proteins. The scientists used MG to glycate ovalbumin (egg white protein). This produced a brown coloured solution typical of the "browning" effect of glycation. They then incubated the glycated albumin with a normal protein, a-crystallin, from the lens of the eye. The glycated albumin formed cross-links with the crystallin, but this was inhibited by carnosine.

Patients with Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease may have an increased occurrence rate of glaucoma (Bayer et al. 2002). This is due to the fact that several harmful biochemical reactions occur simultaneously in all these conditions, i.e., oxidative stress, glycation, formation of AGEs and carbonylation. As carnosine inhibits all the processes, it seems to be an ideal dietary supplement for individuals who are in the risk of developing, or have already any of these conditions.

Carnosine eye drops have been shown to delay vision senescence in humans, being effective in 100% of cases of primary senile cataract and 80% of cases of mature senile cataract (Wang AM et al. 2000). L-carnosine eye drops are able to enter both the aqueous and lipid parts of the eye, and they have been shown to prevent and repair light-induced DNA strand breaks in the eye. In Russia, carnosine eye drops are approved in humans for the treatment of many eye diseases.

Diabetes and its complications:

A diabetic person excretes in the urine a lot of sugar and other substances, proteins (amino acids such as arginine, carnosine and taurine) and magnesium. As diabetes enhances glycation and the patient is deficient in carnosine, the arteries tend to harden. It is why the incidence of arteriosclerosis, myocardial infarctions and stroke is tree-fold amongst diabetics.

Carnosine is known to be a substance that, via the H3-receptors in the autonomous nervous system, controls the levels of blood sugar. Animal tests suggest that pregnant rats low in carnosine have an increased risk of getting diabetic off springs. This is explained by the fact that carnosine improves the foetal glucose tolerance. So, carnosine may be a beneficial supplement for all diabetic mothers-to-be, as it can lower their children�s risk of diabetes.

Carnosine is recommended for all diabetics as it lowers the risk of the complications, i.e., heart events, stroke, periphreal artery hardening, kidney and eye problems.

Cardiovascular diseases:

The healthy heart muscle (myocardium) naturally contains carnosine, but carnosine supplementation increases significantly the strength and endurance of the heart muscle. Contractile failure of myocardial cells is a common cause of mortality in ischemic heart disease. According to a recent pharmacological study, carnosine improves myocardial contractility during hypoxia as well as verapamil, a calcium channel blocker frequently prescribed for the treatment of heart disease (Bharadwaj et al. 2002) and therefore carnosine opens completely new horizons in treatment of myocardial insufficiency (Gamez Navarro 2000, Zaloga et al 1997).

Carnosine protects the heart and arteries.

Parkinson�s disease

The ultimate cause, on the atomic level, are toxic free radicals and their toxic metabolites, which damage certain cells in the brain. H2O2 and TPA (tetracanoylphorbolacetate) are such radicals, and they are able to kill brain cells prematurely. Carnosine has been shown to prevent these radicals and it is thus protecting the brain cells (Kang et al. 2002 b).

Lewy particles in the brain of Parkinson patients accumulate a substance called alpha-Synuclein, which accelerates the disease. This substance is produced due to oxidative stress. Carnosine is able to combat both oxidative stress and accumulation of alpha-Synuclein (Kim et al. 2002).

Sexual functions improved:

Production of nitric oxide (NO) in the penis is a pre-requisite for starting and maintaining erection. Carnosine is the natural substrate for NO. In other words our body makes NO out of carnosine (Alaghband-Zadeh ym 2001). Therefore, supplementation with carnosine automatically improves potency.

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