Does creatine protect the brain against intestinal inflammation?

Scientists have found that creatine can protect the brain against gut inflammation.

Creatine, which is mostly known as a supplement for increasing muscle power, has been noticed in a new research due to its possible effects on brain health. By examining mice suffering from intestinal inflammation, the researchers found that the consumption of this compound was associated with the improvement of some indicators of hippocampal health.

Ambassador Arjan-Social Group: Creatine emerged as a supplement for athletes, and now scientists are investigating its benefits for more than just muscle building.

According to preliminary evidence, this natural organic compound can benefit many parts of the body and brain even without exercise.

This idea remains controversial. However, a new study in mice shows that creatine is very effective in protecting the brain from gut dysfunction.

The findings, published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, are limited to animal models, but the Spanish researchers believe there are clinical implications for humans as well.

They argue that creatine could be an excellent candidate for maintaining brain health in people with inflammatory bowel-brain disorders.

The research team led by Alejandro Ruiz-Calero and María Ortego-Dominguez from the University of Seville in Spain concludes: From a clinical perspective, creatine supplementation appears to be a powerful complementary and preventive strategy. Creatine content restores the hippocampus, maintains neuronal integrity, and manages neuronal excitability by selectively targeting parameters disrupted by inflammation.

Some of these researchers found last year that creatine supplementation in rodents reduced gut inflammation and disease-related damage to the gut.

Now their new experiments also show benefits for the hippocampus, an important area of the brain for learning and memory.

When mice with inflammatory bowel disease received creatine daily, the supplement successfully restored creatine levels in their hippocampus. It also reduced the inflammation and damage of neurons in this area.

The results are consistent with several preliminary studies linking creatine supplementation to improved brain health.

We all know that the brain consumes a large amount of the body's energy, and creatine plays an important role in maintaining our cellular energy balance.

For humans, a typical omnivore diet contains about 1-2 grams of creatine per day. This natural organic compound is also made by the liver, kidneys and pancreas.

Once produced or consumed, it is mostly stored within the muscle, but creatine can also cross the blood-brain barrier and be taken up by neurons and other brain cells.

However, it is still less clear what it does when it enters the central nervous system.

This new research suggests that creatine supplements may affect the health and function of specific brain cells.

Spanish researchers say intestinal inflammation in mice can also lead to damage and disruption of hippocampal neurons. However, the good news is that oral doses of creatine seem to help.

In experiments, some mice were given water containing one gram of creatine per kilogram of their body weight. Then 10 days later, the scientists developed symptoms of colitis. The daily dose of creatine was continued for the rest of the experiment.

In mice that received creatine but did not have colitis, the researchers did not measure a significant change in creatine levels in the hippocampus, but in mice with colitis, creatine improved several markers of healthy brain activity.

The researchers conclude that this supplement restored hippocampal creatine levels, maintained neuronal integrity, and normalized the excitability disorder.

Interestingly, the research team found that the benefits of creatine were more pronounced in male mice with colitis than in females. This is probably because in males, colitis-related brain damage manifests worse than in females.

These findings suggest that some inflammatory conditions may affect the brains of men and women differently, and that creatine supplements may help prevent some of these consequences.

This research was published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.

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