Oral creatine supplementation facilitates the rehabilitation of disuse atrophy and alters the expression of muscle myogenic factors in humans.

1. We investigated the effect of oral creatine supplementation during leg immobilization and rehabilitation on muscle volume and function, and on myogenic transcription factor expression in human subjects. 2. A double-blind trial was performed in young healthy volunteers (n = 22). A cast was used to immobilize the right leg for 2 weeks. Thereafter the subjects participated in a knee-extension rehabilitation programme (3 sessions x week(-1), 10 weeks). Half of the subjects received creatine monohydrate (CR; from 20 g down to 5 g daily), whilst the others ingested placebo (P; maltodextrin). 3. Before and after immobilization, and after 3 and 10 weeks of rehabilitation training, the cross-sectional area (CSA) of the quadriceps muscle was assessed by NMR imaging. In addition, an isokinetic dynamometer was used to measure maximal knee-extension power (Wmax), and needle biopsy samples taken from the vastus lateralis muscle were examined to asses expression of the myogenic transcription factors MyoD, myogenin, Myf5, and MRF4, and muscle fibre diameters. 4. Immobilization decreased quadriceps muscle CSA (approximately 10 %) and Wmax (approximately 25 %) by the same magnitude in both groups. During rehabilitation, CSA and Wmax recovered at a faster rate in CR than in P (P < 0.05 for both parameters). Immobilization changed myogenic factor protein expression in neither P nor CR. However, after rehabilitation myogenin protein expression was increased in P but not in CR (P < 0.05), whilst MRF4 protein expression was increased in CR but not in P (P < 0.05). In addition, the change in MRF4 expression was correlated with the change in mean muscle fibre diameter (r = 0.73, P < 0.05). 5. It is concluded that oral creatine supplementation stimulates muscle hypertrophy during rehabilitative strength training. This effect may be mediated by a creatine-induced change in MRF4 and myogenin expression.

Creatine supplementation: exploring the role of the creatine kinase/phosphocreatine system in human muscle.

The effect of oral creatine supplementation on high-intensity exercise performance has been extensively studied over the past ten years and its ergogenic potential in young healthy subjects is now well documented. Recently, research has shifted from performance evaluation towards elucidating the mechanisms underlying enhanced muscle functional capacity after creatine supplementation. In this review, we attempt to summarise recent advances in the understanding of potential mechanisms of action of creatine supplementation at the level of skeletal muscle cells. By increasing intracellular creatine content, oral creatine ingestion conceivably stimulates operation of the creatine kinase (CK)/phosphocreatine (PCr) system, which in turn facilitates muscle relaxation. Furthermore, evidence is accumulating to suggest that creatine supplementation can beneficially impact on muscle protein and glycogen synthesis. Thus, muscle hypertrophy and glycogen supercompensation are candidate factors to explain the ergogenic potential of creatine ingestion. Additional issues discussed in this review are the fibre-type specificity of muscle creatine metabolism, the identification of responders versus non-responders to creatine intake, and the scientific background concerning potential side effects of creatine supplementation.

Prolonged submaximal eccentric exercise is associated with increased levels of plasma IL-6.

To study the relationship between exercise-related muscle proteolysis and the cytokine response, a prolonged eccentric exercise model of one leg was used. Subjects performed two trials [a branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) supplementation and a control trial]. The release of amino acids from muscle during and after the eccentric exercise was decreased in the BCAA trial, suggesting a suppression of net muscle protein degradation. The plasma concentrations of interleukin (IL)-6 increased from 0.75 +/- 0.19 (preexercise) to 5.02 +/- 0.96 pg/ml (2 h postexercise) in the control trial and in the BCAA supplementation trial from 1.07 +/- 0.41 to 4.15 +/- 1.21 pg/ml. Eccentric exercise had no effect on the concentrations of neutrophils, lymphocytes, CD16+/CD56+, CD4+, CD8+, CD14+/CD38+, lymphocyte proliferative response, or cytotoxic activities. BCAA supplementation reduced the concentration of CD14+/CD38+ cells. This study shows that the concentration of IL-6 in plasma is increased after prolonged eccentric exercise and suggests that the cytokine response is independent of the muscle proteolysis that occur during exercise.

[Significance of fatty acid composition in plasma and in food for cellular immune function in elderly men]. / Betydning af fedtsyresammensaetningen i plasma og i kosten for cellulaer immunfunktion hos aeldre maend.

The relation between fatty acid composition in plasma and natural killer (NK) cell activity and the relation between fatty acid composition of diet and NK cell activity was evaluated in healthy elderly men. The correlations between basal NK activity and the fraction of plasma fatty acids consisting of total polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), total n-6 fatty acids and linoleic acid were r = -0.68, p = 0.006, r = 0.62, p = 0.014 and r = 0.52, p = 0.048, respectively. Significant negative correlations were also found between alpha-interferon stimulated NK cell activity and the three groups of fatty acids and between interleukin-2 stimulated NK cell activity and PUFA. Likewise, negative correlations between grammes of PUFA in diet, determined from two four-day registration-periods, and basal NK and alpha-interferon stimulated NK cell activity were found. No significant negative correlation between percentage intake of n-3 fatty acids and NK cell activity was found. It is concluded that the type of dietary fatty acids influence NK cell activity in elderly men. A high intake of n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids may be detrimental to cellular immune defence mechanisms in the elderly.