Antihyperlipidemic potential of dietary supplementation with carnosine in high-fat diet-fed rats

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the hypolipidemic ef-fects of carnosine and a commercial carnosine supplement on lipid status, liver and kidney function, and inflammation associated with dys- lipidemia in rats with high-fat diet-induced hy-perlipidemia.MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted on adult male Wistar rats, divided in-to control and experimental groups. Animals were kept in standard laboratory conditions and according to groups were treated with saline, carnosine, carnosine dietary supplement, sim-vastatin, and their combinations. All substanc-es were prepared fresh every day and used by oral gavage.RESULTS: Treatment with a carnosine-based supplement significantly improved total and LDL cholesterol levels in serum, especially in the combination with simvastatin as a conven-tional drug in dyslipidemia treatment. The effect of carnosine on the metabolism of triglycerides was not as evident as in the case of cholester-ol. Nevertheless, the values of the atherogen-ic index showed that the combinations of car-nosine and carnosine supplement with simvas-tatin were the most effective in lowering this comprehensive lipid index. Dietary carnosine supplementation resulted also in anti-inflam- matory effects, as demonstrated by immunohis-tochemical analyses. Besides, the good safety profile of carnosine in terms of its effect on liver and kidney functions was also confirmed.CONCLUSIONS: The use of carnosine sup-plements in preventing and/or treatment of metabolic disorders requires further investigations into the mechanisms of action and potential in-teractions with conventional therapy.

Automated summary

The study aimed to investigate the effects of carnosine and a commercial carnosine supplement on lipid status, liver and kidney function, and inflammation in rats with high-fat diet-induced hyperlipidemia. The results showed that carnosine supplementation significantly improved serum total and LDL cholesterol levels, as well as exhibited anti-inflammatory effects. Furthermore, carnosine had a good safety profile in terms of liver and kidney function.