Increased Bioavailability of β-Alanine by a Novel Controlled-Release Powder Blend Compared to a Slow-Release Tablet

One-Pot Synthesis of β-Alanine from Fumaric Acid via an Efficient Dual-Enzyme Cascade Biotransformation

As the only naturally occurring β-amino acid, β-alanine has important application prospects in many fields. Driven by the huge demand, biosynthesis is becoming more and more popular as a potential alternative to the chemical synthesis of β-alanine. Although the direct pathway from L-aspartic acid to β-alanine, catalyzed by L-aspartic acid-α-decarboxylase (PanD), is ideal for β-alanine synthesis, it is hindered by the high cost of the substrate and limited economic viability. In this work, a cell-free dual enzyme cascade system based on methylaspartate lyase (EcMAL) and panD was constructed to safely and efficiently synthesize β-alanine using fumarate as a substrate. Taking the previously engineered EcMAL as the target, CgPanD was finally screened as the best candidate through gene mining, sequence alignment, and enzyme property analysis. Finally, under the optimal conditions of 35 °C, pH 8.0, and EcMAL: CgPanD concentration ratio of 1:5, the yield of β-alanine reached 80% theoretical yield within 120 min. This study provides a potential strategy for the biosynthesis of β-alanine, paving the way for future industrial-scale production.

Effect of a sustained-release formulation of β-alanine on laboratory parameters and paresthesia in recreational trained men: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study

Introduction

Beta-alanine is a non-essential amino acid that has been a focus of increasing research by its role as ergogenic aid to improve muscle performance.

Methods

A randomized, double-blind and controlled trial was conducted to determine the effect of a nutritional supplement of a sustained-release formulation of β-alanine in recreational trained men. The active product was an innovative sustained-release β-alanine microgranules powder blend, administered at high doses (15 g/day) divided into 3 intakes during 30 days. There were 10 participants in the experimental group and 9 in the placebo group, with a mean age of 22.5 ± 3.3 years. Participants were testing at baseline and at the end of study.

Results

In the β-alanine group, there were statistically increases in serum triglycerides, LDL-cholesterol, and urea nitrogen at the end of the study as compared with baseline, although there were no differences with the control group. The occurrence of paresthesia, described above all as tickling, was the majority but presented VAS score less than 3/10 in almost all subjects.

Discussion

More studies are required to evaluate the changes in blood parameters that can be caused by high intake of β-alanine during a long period of time.

Clinical trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier (NCT05334121).

Application of the oxycodone templated molecular imprinted polymer in adsorption of the drug from human blood plasma as the real biological environment; a joint experimental and density functional theory study

In this project, we have synthesized and used a molecular imprinted polymer (MIP) for adsorption of oxycodone residue from the biological samples. Indeed, this study aims to develop a suitable method for determination of oxycodone drug residue in the human plasma using the common analysis methods. Therefore, the MIP was used for the solid phase extraction (MIP-SPE) approach in order to collect the oxycodone opioid and to concentrate it in the blood plasma samples. The extraction parameters such as adsorption time, pH, and the amount of sorbent in blood plasma were optimized and the capacity of loading amount (LA) for adsorbing it was determined. Moreover, a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-UV detector method was validated and used for analyzing of the mentioned opioid extracted from plasma. The results showed that the limit of detection (LOD), and the limit of quantization (LOQ) for the developed MIP-SPE method were 1.24 ppb, and 3.76 ppb, respectively. Moreover, both of the MIP-, and non-imprinted polymers (NIP)-drug complexes were designed and were then optimized by the density functional theory (DFT) method. The results showed that the theoretical calculations supported the experimental data, confirming the favorability of adsorption of the drug by MIP compared to NIP.