TY  - EJOU
AU  - Carota, Giuseppe 
AU  - Pietro, Lucia Di 
AU  - Cardaci, Vincenzo 
AU  - Privitera, Anna 
AU  - Bellia, Francesco 
AU  - Pietro, Valentina Di 
AU  - Lazzarino, Giuseppe 
AU  - Tavazzi, Barbara 
AU  - Amorini, Angela Maria 
AU  - Lazzarino, Giacomo 
AU  - Caruso, Giuseppe 

TI  - In Search of New Pharmacological Targets: Beyond Carnosine’s Antioxidant, Anti-Inflammatory, and Anti-Aggregation Activities
T2  - BIOCELL

PY  - 2025
VL  - 49
IS  - 4
SN  - 1667-5746

AB  - Carnosine (β-alanyl-L-histidine) is a naturally occurring endogenous peptide widely distributed in excitable tissues, such as the heart and brain. Over the years, several beneficial effects of carnosine have been discussed well in scientific literature. In particular, this dipeptide is well-known for its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-aggregation activities. It is of great interest in the context of numerous systemic and neurodegenerative diseases, besides performing important “side activities” such as metal chelation and pH-buffering. Despite a plethora of preclinical and clinical data supporting carnosine’s therapeutic potential, researchers are still searching for new pharmacological targets that better highlight carnosine’s overall multimodal mechanism of action and allow its disease-specific use. The aim of the present mini-review, after quickly summarizing the current knowledge of carnosine biological properties, is to pinpoint the role of some non-canonical factors/pathways positively modulated by this dipeptide, highlighting their perspective role as future pharmacological targets.
KW  - Carnosine; pharmacological targets; nitric oxide; TGF-β1; fractalkine; insulin-degrading enzyme; N-methyltransferase; energy metabolism

DO  - 10.32604/biocell.2025.062176