Smith Rachel N, Agharkar Amruta S, Gonzales Eric B
Department of Pharmacology & Neuroscience, UNT Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX, TX, 76107, USA.
Department of Pharmacology & Neuroscience, UNT Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX, TX, 76107, USA ; Institute for Aging and Alzheimer's Disease Research, UNT Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX, TX, 76107, USA ; Cardiovascular Research Institute, UNT Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX, TX, 76107, USA.
F1000Res. 2014 Sep 15;3:222. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.5218.1. eCollection 2014.
Creatine is an endogenous compound synthesized from arginine, glycine and methionine. This dietary supplement can be acquired from food sources such as meat and fish, along with athlete supplement powders. Since the majority of creatine is stored in skeletal muscle, dietary creatine supplementation has traditionally been important for athletes and bodybuilders to increase the power, strength, and mass of the skeletal muscle. However, new uses for creatine have emerged suggesting that it may be important in preventing or delaying the onset of neurodegenerative diseases associated with aging. On average, 30% of muscle mass is lost by age 80, while muscular weakness remains a vital cause for loss of independence in the elderly population. In light of these new roles of creatine, the dietary supplement's usage has been studied to determine its efficacy in treating congestive heart failure, gyrate atrophy, insulin insensitivity, cancer, and high cholesterol. In relation to the brain, creatine has been shown to have antioxidant properties, reduce mental fatigue, protect the brain from neurotoxicity, and improve facets/components of neurological disorders like depression and bipolar disorder. The combination of these benefits has made creatine a leading candidate in the fight against age-related diseases, such as Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, long-term memory impairments associated with the progression of Alzheimer's disease, and stroke. In this review, we explore the normal mechanisms by which creatine is produced and its necessary physiology, while paying special attention to the importance of creatine supplementation in improving diseases and disorders associated with brain aging and outlining the clinical trials involving creatine to treat these diseases.
肌酸是一种由精氨酸、甘氨酸和蛋氨酸合成的内源性化合物。这种膳食补充剂可以从肉类和鱼类等食物来源以及运动员补充剂粉末中获取。由于大部分肌酸储存在骨骼肌中，传统上膳食补充肌酸对运动员和健美运动员增加骨骼肌的力量、强度和质量很重要。然而，肌酸的新用途已经出现，表明它在预防或延缓与衰老相关的神经退行性疾病的发作方面可能很重要。平均而言，到80岁时，30%的肌肉质量会流失，而肌肉无力仍然是老年人群失去独立能力的一个重要原因。鉴于肌酸的这些新作用，人们对这种膳食补充剂的使用进行了研究，以确定其在治疗充血性心力衰竭、回旋状萎缩、胰岛素不敏感、癌症和高胆固醇方面的功效。与大脑相关的是，肌酸已被证明具有抗氧化特性，可减轻精神疲劳，保护大脑免受神经毒性，并改善抑郁症和双相情感障碍等神经疾病的各个方面。这些益处的结合使肌酸成为对抗与年龄相关疾病（如帕金森病、亨廷顿病、肌萎缩侧索硬化症、与阿尔茨海默病进展相关的长期记忆障碍和中风）的主要候选物质。在这篇综述中，我们探讨了肌酸产生的正常机制及其必要的生理学，同时特别关注补充肌酸在改善与脑衰老相关的疾病和障碍方面的重要性，并概述了涉及肌酸治疗这些疾病的临床试验。
