The Paradoxical Effect of Creatine Monohydrate on Muscle Damage Markers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Doma, Kenji, Ramachandran, Akhilesh Kumar, Boullosa, Daniel, and Connor, Jonathan (2022) The Paradoxical Effect of Creatine Monohydrate on Muscle Damage Markers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Medicine, 52. pp. 1623-1645.

[img]
Preview
PDF (Published Version) - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

Download (4MB) | Preview
View at Publisher Website: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-022-01640...
 
550


Abstract

Background: Several studies have examined the effect of creatine monohydrate (CrM) on indirect muscle damage markers and muscle performance, although pooled data from several studies indicate that the benefits of CrM on recovery dynamics are limited.

Objective: This systematic review and meta-analysis determined whether the ergogenic effects of CrM ameliorated markers of muscle damage and performance following muscle-damaging exercises.

Methods: In total, 23 studies were included, consisting of 240 participants in the CrM group (age 23.9 ± 10.4 years, height 178 ± 5 cm, body mass 76.9 ± 7.6 kg, females 10.4%) and 229 participants in the placebo group (age 23.7 ± 8.5 years, height 177 ± 5 cm, body mass 77.0 ± 6.6 kg, females 10.0%). These studies were rated as fair to excellent following the PEDro scale. The outcome measures were compared between the CrM and placebo groups at 24–36 h and 48–90 h following muscle-damaging exercises, using standardised mean differences (SMDs) and associated p-values via forest plots. Furthermore, sub-group analyses were conducted by separating studies into those that examined the effects of CrM as an acute training response (i.e., after one muscle-damaging exercise bout) and those that examined the chronic training response (i.e., examining the acute response after the last training session following several weeks of training).

Results: According to the meta-analysis, the CrM group exhibited significantly lower indirect muscle damage markers (i.e., creatine kinase, lactate dehydrogenase, and/or myoglobin) at 48–90 h post-exercise for the acute training response (SMD − 1.09; p = 0.03). However, indirect muscle damage markers were significantly greater in the CrM group at 24 h post-exercise (SMD 0.95; p = 0.04) for the chronic training response. Although not significant, a large difference in indirect muscle damage markers was also found at 48 h post-exercise (SMD 1.24) for the chronic training response. The CrM group also showed lower inflammation for the acute training response at 24–36 h post-exercise and 48–90 h post-exercise with a large effect size (SMD − 1.38 ≤ d ≤  − 1.79). Similarly, the oxidative stress markers were lower for the acute training response in the CrM group at 24–36 h post-exercise and 90 h post-exercise, with a large effect size (SMD − 1.37 and − 1.36, respectively). For delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS), the measures were lower for the CrM group at 24 h post-exercise with a moderate effect size (SMD − 0.66) as an acute training response. However, the inter-group differences for inflammation, oxidative stress, and DOMS were not statistically significant (p > 0.05).

Conclusion: Overall, our meta-analysis demonstrated a paradoxical effect of CrM supplementation post-exercise, where CrM appears to minimise exercise-induced muscle damage as an acute training response, although this trend is reversed as a chronic training response. Thus, CrM may be effective in reducing the level of exercise-induced muscle damage following a single bout of strenuous exercises, although training-induced stress could be exacerbated following long-term supplementation of CrM. Although long-term usage of CrM is known to enhance training adaptations, whether the increased level of exercise-induced muscle damage as a chronic training response may provide potential mechanisms to enhance chronic training adaptations with CrM supplementation remains to be confirmed.

Item ID: 73134
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1179-2035
Copyright Information: © The Author(s) 2022. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Date Deposited: 23 Mar 2022 07:54
FoR Codes: 42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4207 Sports science and exercise > 420702 Exercise physiology @ 100%
SEO Codes: 13 CULTURE AND SOCIETY > 1306 Sport, exercise and recreation > 130601 Exercise @ 100%
Downloads: Total: 550
Last 12 Months: 5
More Statistics

Actions (Repository Staff Only)

Item Control Page Item Control Page