Studies of new forms of Creatine

[hailtotheking]

Comparison of new forms of creatine in raising pla... [J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2007] - PubMed result

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Comparison of new forms of creatine in raising plasma creatine levels.
Jäger R, Harris RC, Purpura M, Francaux M.

Increnovo LLC, 2138 E Lafayette Pl, Milwaukee, WI 53202, USA. ralf.jaeger@increnovo.com.

Abstract
ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Previous research has shown that plasma creatine levels are influenced by extracellular concentrations of insulin and glucose as well as by the intracellular creatine concentration. However, the form of creatine administered does not appear to have any effect although specific data on this is lacking. This study examined whether the administration of three different forms of creatine had different effects on plasma creatine concentrations and pharmacokinetics. METHODS: Six healthy subjects (three female and three male subjects) participated in the study. Each subject was assigned to ingest a single dose of isomolar amounts of creatine (4.4 g) in the form of creatine monohydrate (CrM), tri-creatine citrate (CrC), or creatine pyruvate (CrPyr) using a balanced cross-over design. Plasma concentration curves, determined over eight hours after ingestion, were subject to pharmacokinetic analysis and primary derived data were analyzed by repeated measures ANOVA. RESULTS: Mean peak concentrations and area under the curve (AUC) were significantly higher with CrPyr (17 and 14%, respectively) in comparison to CrM and CrC. Mean peak concentration and AUC were not significantly different between CrM and CrC. Despite the higher peak concentration with CrPyr there was no difference between the estimated velocity constants of absorption (ka) or elimination (kel) between the three treatments. There was no effect of treatment with CrPyr on the plasma pyruvate concentration. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that different forms of creatine result in slightly altered kinetics of plasma creatine absorption following ingestion of isomolar (with respect to creatine) doses of CrM, CrC and CrPyr although differences in ka could not be detected due to the small number of blood samples taken during the absorption phase. Characteristically this resulted in higher plasma concentrations of creatine with CrPyr. Differences in bioavailability are thought to be unlikely since absorption of CrM is already close to 100%. The small differences in kinetics are unlikely to have any effect on muscle creatine elevation during periods of creatine loading.

Basically, citrate is no better than mono, but pyruvate may increase plasma levels slightly more than mono, although this is unlikely to transalte into any real-world benefits over mono.

[hailtotheking]

There are 2 studies that were reported by CR Technologies at the ISSN 4th international annual meeting a while back that showed Kre-Alkalyn had no difference in rate of conversion to creatanine compared to mono, and they did another study on CEE showing its rate of degradation was even higher than mono. For the layman, creatanine is the useless metabolite of creatine once it has been processed. The CR Technologies site is down right now, so i cant access the studues, but i will post them as soon as i can get to them.

[hailtotheking]

The effects of creatine ethyl ester supplementatio... [J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2009] - PubMed result

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J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2009 Feb 19;6:6.

The effects of creatine ethyl ester supplementation combined with heavy resistance training on body composition, muscle performance, and serum and muscle creatine levels.
Spillane M, Schoch R, Cooke M, Harvey T, Greenwood M, Kreider R, Willoughby DS.

Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation, Baylor University, Box 97313, Waco, TX 76798, USA. darryn_willoughby@baylor.edu.

Abstract
ABSTRACT: Numerous creatine formulations have been developed primarily to maximize creatine absorption. Creatine ethyl ester is alleged to increase creatine bio-availability. This study examined how a seven-week supplementation regimen combined with resistance training affected body composition, muscle mass, muscle strength and power, serum and muscle creatine levels, and serum creatinine levels in 30 non-resistance-trained males. In a double-blind manner, participants were randomly assigned to a maltodextrose placebo (PLA), creatine monohydrate (CRT), or creatine ethyl ester (CEE) group. The supplements were orally ingested at a dose of 0.30 g/kg fat-free body mass (approximately 20 g/day) for five days followed by ingestion at 0.075 g/kg fat free mass (approximately 5 g/day) for 42 days. Results showed significantly higher serum creatine concentrations in PLA (p = 0.007) and CRT (p = 0.005) compared to CEE. Serum creatinine was greater in CEE compared to the PLA (p = 0.001) and CRT (p = 0.001) and increased at days 6, 27, and 48. Total muscle creatine content was significantly higher in CRT (p = 0.026) and CEE (p = 0.041) compared to PLA, with no differences between CRT and CEE. Significant changes over time were observed for body composition, body water, muscle strength and power variables, but no significant differences were observed between groups. In conclusion, when compared to creatine monohydrate, creatine ethyl ester was not as effective at increasing serum and muscle creatine levels or in improving body composition, muscle mass, strength, and power. Therefore, the improvements in these variables can most likely be attributed to the training protocol itself, rather than the supplementation regimen.

Not only does this show that CEE offers no benefits to mono, but it also once again highlights the rapid rate of conversion to creatanine in the CEE vs mono. In fact, the CEE converted to creatanine 3-fold after the loading phase and continued to remain above normal levels during the maintenance, whilst the creatanine levels in the mono group stayed within normal range. Non-fat mass gains were signficiantly increased in the mono group, whilst the CEE group saw no signiicant fat-free mass gains and in fact their bodyfat went up a bit ?!

[Gareth83]

yep, creatine mono is the only tried and tested method