Naked Science Forum

Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: davekm on 04/06/2012 09:49:04

Title: If you workout, does less creatine go to the brain and more to the muscles?
Post by: davekm on 04/06/2012 09:49:04

I haven't read this anywhere, it's just something I thought up.

Title: Re: If you workout, does less creatine go to the brain and more to the muscles?
Post by: Lmnre on 05/06/2012 02:02:17

So, you're wondering if muscle exertion uses more creatine, leaving less for the brain to use.

I'm not sure of the cellular chemistry, but I think cells convert creatine into creatinine. I do know that creatinine levels do not increase because a person works out, so I would guess that muscle exertion does not use more creatine.

Title: Re: If you workout, does less creatine go to the brain and more to the muscles?
Post by: davekm on 05/06/2012 09:51:24

 If muscle exertion doen't use more creatine then why do gym buffs supplement with creatine??

 I have read that creatine phosphate donates phosphate to convert ADP into ATP. Does this have an impact on brain phosphates, ADP or ATP?

Sorry, this is above my head. :)

Title: Re: If you workout, does less creatine go to the brain and more to the muscles?
Post by: Lmnre on 05/06/2012 22:19:56

Quote from: davekm on 05/06/2012 09:51:24

If muscle exertion doen't use more creatine then why do gym buffs supplement with creatine?

Perhaps supplementing becomes significant when subjected to extreme exertions.

Quote from: Wikipedia

Phosphocreatine can anaerobically donate a phosphate group to ADP to form ATP during the first 2 to 7 seconds following an intense muscular or neuronal effort. Conversely, excess ATP can be used during a period of low effort to convert creatine to phosphocreatine. The reversible phosphorylation of creatine (i.e., both the forward and backward reaction) is catalyzed by several creatine kinases. The presence of creatine kinase (CK-MB, MB for muscle/brain) in plasma is indicative of tissue damage and is used in the diagnosis of myocardial infarction. The cell's ability to generate phosphocreatine from excess ATP during rest, as well as its use of phosphocreatine for quick regeneration of ATP during intense activity, provides a spatial and temporal buffer of ATP concentration. In other words, phosphocreatine acts as high-energy reserve in a coupled reaction; the energy given off from donating the phosphate group is used to regenerate the other compound - in this case, ATP. Phosphocreatine plays a particularly important role in tissues that have high, fluctuating energy demands such as muscle and brain.

source (http://"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creatine_phosphate#Function")

Also notice that Wikipedia mentioned "anaerobically", which points toward bodybuilding and weightlifting, and less toward long-distance running or intense thinking (unless done anaerobically).

Title: Re: If you workout, does less creatine go to the brain and more to the muscles?
Post by: davekm on 06/06/2012 11:48:53

So, the only use of creatine supplementation is to have more phosphates to donate?

Do the phosphates, atp & adp used in muscle exertion mean that less travels to the brain?

Title: Re: If you workout, does less creatine go to the brain and more to the muscles?
Post by: Lmnre on 07/06/2012 03:29:11

I would say that those chemicals are already inside the muscle cells, but I don't know what affect, if any, the presence of those chemicals in muscle cells has on their availability/concentration in the blood. I would not say that they would "travel" to the brain, but just that they are/aren't available in sufficient quantities in the blood for use elsewhere in the body, such as the brain. And again, we're only talking about muscles using creatine anaerobically, so it would need to be an anaerobic exertion.

Edited spelling: nefed → need.

Title: Re: If you workout, does less creatine go to the brain and more to the muscles?
Post by: davekm on 07/06/2012 09:26:23

So to conclude, you think it's unlikely that anaerobic muscle exertion alters creatine's effects on the brain.

Title: Re: If you workout, does less creatine go to the brain and more to the muscles?
Post by: Lmnre on 07/06/2012 12:51:03

I don't know. Here's creatine's metabolic pathways from ExPASy —

(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fweb.expasy.org%2Fpathways%2Fgifs%2Fbiochem_U5.png&hash=a065f4d1627c8dc2a3747c5e332dc2a8)

(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fweb.expasy.org%2Fpathways%2Fgifs%2Fbiochem_G7.png&hash=9e8e7001517a7a34c76b11f445df2c85)

Title: Re: If you workout, does less creatine go to the brain and more to the muscles?
Post by: davekm on 07/06/2012 13:53:06

Quote from: Lmnre on 05/06/2012 02:02:17

I'm not sure of the cellular chemistry, but I think cells convert creatine into creatinine. I do know that creatinine levels do not increase because a person works out, so I would guess that muscle exertion does not use more creatine.

The advantages of creatine it seems are the:
1)increased atp
2)increased protein synthesis
3 water bulk

Title: Re: If you workout, does less creatine go to the brain and more to the muscles?
Post by: davekm on 10/06/2012 09:50:09

bump

Title: Re: If you workout, does less creatine go to the brain and more to the muscles?
Post by: Lmnre on 11/06/2012 04:27:25

I'm really not familiar with creatine. Have you read about creatine in Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creatine)?

Bodybuilding reminds me of reducing diets. There seems to be too much anecdotal evidence and not enough scientific proof. And so many people are looking for a quick and easy way (ie, an unnatural way) to lose fat and/or gain muscle.

Title: Re: If you workout, does less creatine go to the brain and more to the muscles?
Post by: davekm on 11/06/2012 08:28:11

Still not sure if creatine is taken from the bloodstream mid anaerobic exercise, meaning less go's to the brain.