Plasma Creatine Kinetics After Ingestion of Microencapsulated Creatine Monohydrate with Enhanced Stability in Aqueous Solutions

ABSTRACT

Creatine monohydrate represents one of the largest sports supplement markets. Enhancing creatine (CRE) stability in aqueous solutions, such as with microencapsulation, represents innovation potential. Ten physically active male volunteers were randomly assigned in a double-blind design to either placebo (PLA) (3-g maltodextrin; n = 5) or microencapsulated CRE (3-g creatine monohydrate; n = 5) conditions. Experimental conditions involved ingestion of the samples in a 70-mL ready-to-drink format. CRE was delivered in a novel microencapsulation matrix material consisting entirely of hydrolyzed milk protein. Three hours after ingestion, plasma creatine concentrations were unchanged during PLA, and averaged ∼45 μM. During CRE, plasma creatine concentration peaked after 30 min at 101.6 ± 14.9 μM (p < 0.05), representing a 2.3-fold increase over PLA. Thereafter, plasma creatine concentration gradually trended downwards but remained significantly elevated (∼50% above resting levels) 3 hr after ingestion. These results demonstrate that the microencapsulated form of creatine monohydrate reported herein remains bioavailable when delivered in aqueous conditions, and has potential utility in ready-to-drink formulations for creatine supplementation.

KEYWORDS:

• bioavailability
• creatine
• microencapsulation
• milk protein
• plasma kinetics
• supplementation

Declaration of interest

Sinead B. Bleiel is a founder and shareholder in Anabio Technologies, creators of the microencapsulated creatine described in the article. This formulation is covered by International Patent Application Number PCT/EP2014/062154 published by WIPO on December 18, 2014. Robert M. Kent is an employee of Anabio Technologies. All other authors declare no conflicts of interests.

Funding

Michelle Hone is funded by an Irish Research Council Enterprise Partnership Postgraduate Fellowship, which supported this work in part, in addition to funding by Anabio Technologies (Ireland).

About the authors

Michelle Hone, BSc, is a doctoral student at the School of Health and Human Performance at Dublin City University where her work focuses on the role of microencapsulation technology to alter plasma kinetics and/or enhance the bioavailability of nutrients.

Robert M. Kent, PhD, is an application scientist employed at AnaBio Technologies.

Alessandro Scotto di Palumbo, PhD, is a research scientist working at the Institute for Sport and Health at University College Dublin.

Sinead B. Bleiel, PhD, is the founder and CEO of AnaBio Technologies, which provides encapsulation expertise and commercial contract manufacture for the stabilization of food, pharmaceutical and animal health products.

Giuseppe De Vito, MD, PhD, is Professor of Performance Science, and Head of the School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science at University College Dublin, with research interests in exercise and nutrition interventions to target sarcopenia and support healthy aging.

Brendan Egan, PhD, is Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Physiology at Dublin City University and Visiting Associate Professor at University College Dublin. His research group explores the molecular regulation of skeletal muscle function and adaptation across the life course, with special interest in the synergy between nutrition and exercise interventions.