Balenine is one of the endogenous imidazole dipeptides. It is composed of beta-alanine and 3-methyl-l-histidine, which exist mainly in the muscles and the brain. The exact biological properties of balenine are still not well known, although the antioxidant activity of carnosine, another imidazole dipeptide, is known. In this study we investigated whether balenine exhibits antioxidant activity. It was found to decrease the superoxide anion (O₂⁻) and increased hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) generation. We found that SOD activity increased in balenine-treated C2C12 myotubes, although balenine did not increase expression of SOD mRNA. On the other hand, there were no changes in other antioxidant enzymes, CAT and GPX activity, and mRNA levels. In an in vitro assay, the direct activation of SOD treated by balenine was significantly higher than with carnosine treatment. Moreover, balenine constituent amino acids did not have the ability to activate SOD. Our results suggest that balenine contributes to antioxidant effects through activation of SOD.

Balenine是内源性咪唑二肽之一。它由β-丙氨酸和3-甲基-1-组氨酸组成，它们主要存在于肌肉和大脑中。尽管已知另一种咪唑二肽肌肽的抗氧化活性，但仍然无法确定其总的生物学特性。在这项研究中，我们调查了苯丙氨酸是否表现出抗氧化活性。我们发现降低超氧阴离子（O ₂ ^- ）和增加的过氧化氢（H ₂ ö ₂） 一代。我们发现，尽管苯丙氨酸并没有增加SOD mRNA的表达，但在经苯丙氨酸处理过的C2C12肌管中SOD活性增加了。另一方面，其他抗氧化酶，CAT和GPX活性以及mRNA水平没有变化。在体外测定中，用苯丙氨酸处理过的SOD的直接活化显着高于肌肽处理。而且，苯丙氨酸组成氨基酸不具有激活SOD的能力。我们的结果表明，苯丙氨酸通过激活SOD有助于抗氧化作用。