The influence of sex, age and heritability on human skeletal muscle carnosine content
Observational studyHumans
- Design
- Observational study
- Subjects
- 263 healthy males and females aged 9 to 83, including 25 monozygotic and 22 dizygotic twin pairs
- What was measured
- Carnosine content of gastrocnemius medialis and soleus by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy across five age groups (prepubertal children, adolescents, young adults, middle adults, elderly) and intra-twin correlations.
What the authors reported
In boys, carnosine was higher in adolescents than prepubertal children (gastrocnemius 22.9 percent, soleus 44.6 percent) with no such difference in girls. Carnosine fell about 16 percent from young to middle adulthood in both sexes, and the elderly were not lower than middle adults. Intra-twin correlations were higher in monozygotic (r=0.86) than dizygotic (r=0.51) twins in soleus but not gastrocnemius.
Limits of this study
Cross-sectional design; muscle-dependent differences prevented clear conclusions about heritability. Abstract only.
Source
PubMed 22170500 · doi:10.1007/s00726-011-1197-3
Entry checked against PubMed abstract (E-utilities) on 2026-10-19. The dose shown is the dose the researchers used. It is not a recommendation. How to read this page.