Anti-Obesity Effects of Carnosine Supplementation and Exercise in Mice Fed a High-Fat Diet with Concomitant UCP1 Expression in White Adipocytes

Obesity and obesity-related diseases represent increasingly serious global health challenges, and effective preventive strategies are urgently needed. This study investigated the anti-obesity effects of carnosine and anserine, representative imidazole dipeptides known for their antioxidant and metabolic regulatory properties, using a mouse model of high-fat (HF) diet-induced obesity. Thirty 6-week-old male C57BL/6n mice were fed an HF diet (56% fat) for eight weeks. Carnosine or anserine was administered in drinking water ad libitum (4 mM). After one week of dietary acclimation, the mice were divided into sedentary and exercise groups (n = 5 per group). The exercise protocol consisted of treadmill running for 30 min/day at 9 m/min, five days per week, for seven consecutive weeks. The results demonstrated that only carnosine supplementation, and not anserine, significantly suppressed body weight gain, visceral white adipose tissue accumulation, and adipocyte hypertrophy induced by the HF diet. Moreover, carnosine supplementation enhanced uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) expression in epididymal adipocytes and improved serum blood glucose levels. These findings indicate that carnosine exerts anti-obesity effects, potentially through the enhancement of thermogenic and metabolic pathways, and may have therapeutic potential as a dietary intervention for the prevention of obesity-related metabolic disorders.