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. 2010 Jan 29;7(1):6.
doi: 10.1186/1550-2783-7-6.

Creatine supplementation spares muscle glycogen during high intensity intermittent exercise in rats

Hamilton Roschel  1 , Bruno Gualano, Marcelo Marquezi, André Costa, Antonio H Lancha Jr
Affiliations

Creatine supplementation spares muscle glycogen during high intensity intermittent exercise in rats

Hamilton Roschel et al. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. .

Abstract

Background: The effects of creatine (CR) supplementation on glycogen content are still debatable. Thus, due to the current lack of clarity, we investigated the effects of CR supplementation on muscle glycogen content after high intensity intermittent exercise in rats.

Methods: First, the animals were submitted to a high intensity intermittent maximal swimming exercise protocol to ensure that CR-supplementation was able to delay fatigue (experiment 1). Then, the CR-mediated glycogen sparing effect was examined using a high intensity intermittent sub-maximal exercise test (fixed number of bouts; six bouts of 30-second duration interspersed by two-minute rest interval) (experiment 2). For both experiments, male Wistar rats were given either CR supplementation or placebo (Pl) for 5 days.

Results: As expected, CR-supplemented animals were able to exercise for a significant higher number of bouts than Pl. Experiment 2 revealed a higher gastrocnemius glycogen content for the CR vs. the Pl group (33.59%). Additionally, CR animals presented lower blood lactate concentrations throughout the intermittent exercise bouts compared to Pl. No difference was found between groups in soleus glycogen content.

Conclusion: The major finding of this study is that CR supplementation was able to spare muscle glycogen during a high intensity intermittent exercise in rats.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Effects of creatine supplementation on the number of intermittent high intensity swimming bouts completed until fatigue. Pl - placebo group; CR - creatine group; * indicates p < 0.05 when compared to Pl group
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effects of creatine supplementation on blood lactate concentrations throughout the experimental protocol (Experiment 2). Pl - placebo group; CR - creatine group; * indicates p < 0.05 between groups at the same bout
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effects of creatine supplementation on soleus glycogen content. Pl - placebo group; CR - creatine group; * indicates p < 0.05 when compared to baseline
Figure 4
Figure 4
Effects of creatine supplementation on gastrocnemius glycogen content. Pl - placebo group; CR - creatine group; * indicates p < 0.05 when compared to baseline. # indicates p < 0.05 when compared to Pl group
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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