Histidine Amino Acid - Structure, Benefits, Deficiency, Side Effects And Sources

Chemical Structure Of Histidine

Formula:C₆H₉N₃O₂
Molecular weight: 155.15

What Is Histidine?

Histidine is considered as one of the 20 amino acids present in the human body, histidine is essential amino acid for children and non essential amino acid for adult. Although histidine can be produced in small amounts within the adult body, dietary sources are still being the most dependable source of histidine supply.

Histamine:
Histamine act as neurotransmitter which is released during an immune response. Histamine derived from histidine under the presence of niacin and vitamin B₆, Histamine produced when the acid group of histidine is removed.

Factors Affecting On The Level Of Histidine In The Blood

Level of histidine in the blood stream can affected by 2 factors
1-Zinc
Large doses of zinc may cause a reduction in the serum histidine levels; high dosages or prolonged use of zinc has been seen to raise serum histidine and blood histamine. Zinc and manganese deficiencies interfere with the normal metabolism of histidine into histamine.
2-Vitamin E
Vitamin E deficiency also depletes histidine from muscle tissue.

Benefits Of Histidine

1-Anti - toxicity ( Chelating agent )
Histidine protect the body from the heavy metals, Both histidine and histamine are used to bind or chelate with trace elements such as zinc, iron, copper or other heavy metals.

2-Treatment of allergies
histamine which produced from histidine is found abundantly in the hemoglobin and used for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, allergic diseases, ulcers and anemia.

3-Lowering blood pressure
Histidine also acts to lower blood pressure and relax blood vessels, and its used to treat various cardiac and circulatory problems

4-Protection of nerves and nervous system
Histidine is known to be vital in the maintenance of myelin sheaths surrounding nerves. Particularly the auditory nerve and is used to treat some forms of hearing disability.

5-Growth and repair of tissues
Histidine plays a significant role in the growth and repair of tissues, ulcers, hyper-acidity, digestion and gastric juices, as well as in the production of red and white blood cells. So it is used in the treatment of anemia.

6-Anti - radiation
Soviet scientists have tested over 25,000 different chemical substances and found that histidine and tryptophan are the only elements that provide significant protection against the effect of radiation.

Histidine Deficiency

Deficiency of histidine can cause poor hearing, arthritis, chronic renal failure, eczema in babies, anemia, ulcers and diminished sexual arousal.

Side Effect Of Histidine

High levels of histidine can causes psychotic episodes, reduce zinc and copper levels in the blood and increase blood cholesterol level.

Sources Of Histidine

Dietary sources of histidne ( foods rich in histidine ) :beans, brewer's yeast, brown rice bran, ,dairy products, eggs, fish, legumes, meat, nuts, seafood, seeds, soy, whey, whole grains. Dairy, meat and poultry, and fish are good sources of histidine.