Existence of carcinine, a histamine-related compound, in mammalian tissues.

Carcinine (beta-alanylhistamine) was synthesized in vitro from histamine and beta-alanine. It was detected quantitatively using an HPLC method previously described for the quantification of the related compounds histamine, histidine, carnosine and 3-methylhistamine. Carcinine was identified in several tissue of the rat, guinea pig, mouse and human, and was then shown to be metabolically related in vivo to histamine, histidine, carnosine and 3-methylhistamine through radioisotopic labeling. The results demonstrate that carcinine may be concurrently quantitated using the same HPLC method as that used to measure histamine, histidine, carnosine and 3-methylhistamine. These findings suggest a role for carcinine in the carnosine-histidine-histamine metabolic pathway and in the mammalian physiologic response to stress.