King Grub
2016-04-03, 18:25
Owing to its well-established ergogenic potential, creatine is a highly popular food supplement in sports. As an oral supplement, creatine is currently considered safe and ethical. However, no data exist on the safety of creatine on lung function in humans. This is particularly striking considering that, in animals, creatine has been shown to exacerbate allergic lung inflammation, airway remodelling and bronchial hyper-responsiveness (1). The aim of this project was to evaluate the effects of a standard course of creatine supplementation on the airways of youth, elite athletes. Twenty Football Academy players, aged 16-21 yr, completed a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group trial. The creatine group (n=9) ingested 0.3 g/kg/d of creatine monohydrate (CM) for 1wk and 5 g/d for the remaining 7wk, whereas the placebo group (n=11) received the same dosage of maltodextrin. Airway inflammation (assessed by exhaled nitric oxide, FeNO) and bronchial responsiveness (to dry air hyperpnoea) were assessed pre- and post-supplementation. Atopic status was checked at study entry by skin prick testing. There was a trend (P=0.086, Wilcoxon test) for FeNO to increase post-CM supplementation (Table1), especially in those players sensitized to aero-allergens (FeNO increased by >10 ppb in 4 out of 7 atopic players under CM versus 0 out of 8 atopic players under placebo). Furthermore, the airways of the players supplemented with CM were slightly, but significantly (P=0.038, Mann-Whitney test) more responsive to dry air after 8wk of supplementation compared to the placebo group (Table1). Based on these findings, we cannot exclude that creatine supplementation increases inflammation of the airways in susceptible (atopic) youth athletes, and thereby, contributes to the high prevalence of asthma in elite sport (2).
The Biomedical Basis of Elite Performance 2016 (London, UK) (2016) Proc Physiol Soc 35, PC03. Effects of creatine supplementation on the airways of youth, elite football players.
The Biomedical Basis of Elite Performance 2016 (London, UK) (2016) Proc Physiol Soc 35, PC03. Effects of creatine supplementation on the airways of youth, elite football players.