Short peptides and polypeptides in the composition of sports nutrition. What to choose?

Peptides are a popular tool that is used in sports nutrition systems when training athletes in amateur and professional sports [3]. All peptides - components of sports nutrition - can be divided into 2 groups: short (small) peptides and polypeptides ("large"). Peptides consist of the simplest components - amino acids. If the peptide contains a small number of amino acids, for example 3 or 4, it is a short peptide. If the peptide contains 20-30 or more amino acids, it is a polypeptide. Polypeptides are almost the same as proteins - the most important molecules in our body. Why is separating into short peptides and polypeptides so important? The length of the peptide depends on its function, efficiency and safety when used in sports nutrition.

Currently, polypeptides are very popular as components of sports nutrition, which promote fat burning, increase muscle mass, increase immunity, improve overall health. However, they have significant drawbacks. Polypeptides, in particular peptide hormones, can be incompatible with each other, disrupt the natural production of hormones in the body. In addition, all "large" peptides are foreign to the body and can cause allergic reactions. High physical exertion, which is constantly experienced by the athlete's body, often contribute to a decrease in immunity, which further increases the side-effects of allergic reactions from the use of polypeptides. Since polypeptides are often isolated from the body of animals [2, 3, 9], when the purification technology is violated, they may contain dangerous impurities - foreign proteins, DNA fragments, viruses, prions, which also possess immunogenicity (the ability to cause allergies) and can lead to development Diseases.

Is it possible to do so in order to preserve the beneficial bioregulatory properties of polypeptides and at the same time eliminate their shortcomings? Yes, now it has become possible. As a result of many years of scientific research, it has been established that each polypeptide has an active center - the small part that is responsible for performing the function of this peptide. Based on the analysis of the composition of polypeptides using the special technology of Ideal Pharma GmbH, short peptides consisting of 2, 3 and 4 amino acid residues were created [5, 6, 7]. Such short peptides need not be isolated from animal tissues, but they can be synthesized chemically. This is safer, because Synthetic peptides will not contain components that cause allergies. In this case, short peptides of IPH are completely identical in structure to the natural active (functional) centers of polypeptide molecules and are not perceived by the body as foreign substances. It is important to note that short peptides of IPH, being essentially a "function" of a polypeptide molecule, are used in sports nutrition in lower concentrations than "large peptides."

Another important advantage of short IPH peptides is their ability to be better absorbed by the body compared to polypeptides. How does this happen? Proteins and polypeptides, getting into the human body with food, enter the stomach and intestines. There, they use special enzymes (peptidases) to "cut" into small fragments - short peptides consisting of 2 or 3 amino acid residues. Then, short peptides enter the bloodstream and are transported to the muscles and other organs and tissues where they have a regulatory effect. Most of the polypeptides that we get in the sports nutrition will be "cut" by peptidases and will not have the expected effect, or their effect will be weaker. In this case, the short peptides IPH, which are part of the sports nutrition, will immediately flow from the stomach and intestines into the blood and tissues without decaying. Currently, Ideal Pharma GmbH has developed and synthesized a number of short peptides called IPH for the pharmaceutical, food, cosmetic and sports industries that stimulate the immune, nervous, endocrine systems, have antioxidant properties, activate metabolism and serve to prevent cancer and Increase in life expectancy [5, 6, 7, 8]. It should be noted that the exact mechanism of biological activity is not always known for polypeptides, whereas for short IPH peptides such studies are much easier to perform and we can trace the entire mechanism of peptide action up to genes [1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 ]. This allows us to confidently prepare for the effectiveness and safety of short IPH peptides produced by Ideal Pharma GmbH (Germany).

Thus, short peptides of IPH possessing all the biological effects of polypeptides are safe, non-immunogenic, have a scientifically valid mechanism of action and are the best solution as components of sports nutrition [4] and a vector of development of modern pharmacology and molecular medicine.

Sources of confirmation of the efficacy and safety of short peptides

1. Asapkin VV, Lin'kova NS, Khavinson V.Kh., Vanyushin B.F. Epigenetic mechanisms of peptidergic regulation of gene expression during aging of human cells // Biochemistry. - 2015. - Vol. 80, Issue. 3. - P. 374-388.
2. Zilova IS Protein components in specialized food products for nutrition of athletes / / Questions of nutrition. - 2014. - T.83, №53. - C. 133.
3. Mezenova N.Yu., Vertukhov VV, Volkov VV, Baidalinova LS, Mezenova O.Ya. Determination of technological indicators of powders of active peptides from fish scales as a part of a bioproduct for sports nutrition // Izvestiya VUZov. Applied chemistry and biotechnology. - 2016. - №2 (17). - P. 104-114.
4. Khavinson V.Kh., Trofimova SV, Trofimov AV, Kachan E.Yu., Wiener-Usmanova IA, Terekhina RN, Kryuchek E.S., Pirozhkova E.A. The technique of increasing the level of preparedness of high-class gymnasts based on the use of special physical preparation and peptide bioregulators. // Guidelines. - St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology. - 2013. - 44 p.
5. Khavinson V.Kh., Polyakova VO, Linkova NS, Dudkov AV, Kvetnoy IM Peptides Regulate Cortical Thymocytes Differentiation, Proliferation, and Apoptosis // Journal of Amino Acids. 2011. ArticleID 517137. P. 1-5.
6. Khavinson V.Kh., Tendler SM, Rfsyanenko NA, Tarnovskaya SI, Linkova NS, Ashapkin VV, Yakutseni PP, Vanyushin BF Tetrapeptide KEDW Interacts with DNA and Regulates Gene Expression // American Journal of Biomedical Sciences. - 2015. - Vol. 7, N3. - P. 156-169. Khavinson V.Kh., Tendler SM, Vanyushin BF, Kasyanenko NA, Kvetnoy IM, Linkovan.S., Ashapkin VV, Polyakova VO, Basharina VS, Bernaotte A. Peptide Regulation of Gene Expression and Protein Synthesis in Bronchial Epithelium // Lung. 2014. Vol. 192.-P. 781-791.
7. Medvedeva EV, Dmitrieva VG, Povarova OV, Limborska SA, Skvortsova VI, Myasoedov NF, Dergunova LV The genome-wide transcriptional analysis of BMC Genomics . 2014. Vol. 15.-P. 228.
8. Stadnik J., Kęska P. Meat and fermented meat products as a source of bioactive peptides // ActaSci Pol. Tech. Aliment. - 2015. - Vol. 14, No. 3. - P. 181-190.
9. Sweetwyne MT, Pippin JW, Eng DG, Hudkins KL, Chiao YA, Campbell MD, Marcinek DJ, Alpers CE, Szeto HH, Rabinovitch PS, Shankland SJ The mitochondrial-targeted peptide, SS-31, improves glomerular architecture in mice of advanced age // Kidney Int. 2017. S0085-2538 (16) 30652-4.