Creatine Supplementation and Brain Health

Hamilton Roschel, Bruno Gualano, Sergej M. Ostojic, Eric S. Rawson, Hamilton Roschel, Bruno Gualano, Sergej M. Ostojic, Eric S. Rawson

Abstract

There is a robust and compelling body of evidence supporting the ergogenic and therapeutic role of creatine supplementation in muscle. Beyond these well-described effects and mechanisms, there is literature to suggest that creatine may also be beneficial to brain health (e.g., cognitive processing, brain function, and recovery from trauma). This is a growing field of research, and the purpose of this short review is to provide an update on the effects of creatine supplementation on brain health in humans. There is a potential for creatine supplementation to improve cognitive processing, especially in conditions characterized by brain creatine deficits, which could be induced by acute stressors (e.g., exercise, sleep deprivation) or chronic, pathologic conditions (e.g., creatine synthesis enzyme deficiencies, mild traumatic brain injury, aging, Alzheimer's disease, depression). Despite this, the optimal creatine protocol able to increase brain creatine levels is still to be determined. Similarly, supplementation studies concomitantly assessing brain creatine and cognitive function are needed. Collectively, data available are promising and future research in the area is warranted.

Keywords: brain injury; cognition; concussion; dietary supplement; phosphorylcreatine.

Conflict of interest statement

B.G. has received research grants, creatine donation for scientific studies, travel support for participation in scientific conferences and honorarium for speaking at lectures from AlzChem (a company which manufactures creatine). Additionally, he serves as a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for Alzchem. E.S.R. has conducted industry-sponsored research on creatine and received financial support for presenting on creatine at industry-sponsored scientific conferences. Additionally, he serves as a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for AlzChem, who sponsored this special issue. S.M.O. serves as a member of the Scientific Advisory Board on creatine in health and medicine (AlzChem LLC). S.M.O. owns patent “Sports Supplements Based on Liquid Creatine” at the European Patent Office (WO2019150323 A1), and active patent application “Synergistic Creatine” at the UK Intellectual Property Office (GB2012773.4). S.M.O. has served as a speaker at Abbott Nutrition, a consultant of Allied Beverages Adriatic and IMLEK, and an advisory board member for the University of Novi Sad School of Medicine, and has received research funding related to creatine from the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science, and Technological Development, Provincial Secretariat for Higher Education and Scientific Research, AlzChem GmbH, KW Pfannenschmidt GmbH, and ThermoLife International LLC. S.M.O. is an employee of the University of Novi Sad and does not own stocks and shares in any organization.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Dietary creatine is transported through the blood–brain barrier via a creatine transporter. Astrocytes cells can also endogenously produce creatine, which is taken up by the neurons expressing the creatine transporter. Cr: creatine; PCr: phosphocreatine; Gly: glycine; Arg: arginine; AGAT: L-ariginine: glycine amidinotransferase; GAA: guanidinoacetate; GAMT: guanidinoacetate methyltransferase, SAM: S-adenosylmethionine; CreaT: Cr transporter. Created with BioRender.com.

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