Protective Effect of Carnosine During Nitrosative Stress in Astroglial Cell Cultures.

Formation of nitric oxide by astrocytes has been suggested to contribute, via impairment of
mitochondrial function, to the neurodegenerative process. Mitochondria under oxidative
stress are thought to play a key role in various neurodegenerative disorders; therefore
protection by antioxidants against oxidative stress to mitochondria may prove to be beneficial
in delaying the onset or progression of these diseases. Carnosine has been recently proposed to
act as antioxidant in vivo. In the present study, we demonstrate its neuroprotective effect in
astrocytes exposed to LPS- and INFc-induced nitrosative stress. Carnosine protected against
nitric oxide-induced impairment of mitochondrial function. This effect was associated with
decreased formation of oxidatively modified proteins and with decreased up-regulation
oxidative stress-responsive genes, such as Hsp32, Hsp70 and mt-SOD. Our results sustain the
possibility that carnosine might have anti-ageing effects to brain cells under pathophysiological
conditions leading to degenerative damage, such as aging and neurodegenerative
disorders.