Effects of Oral Creatine Supplementation with Different Doses on the Biochemical Markers of Liver, Kidney and Testis in Swimming Trained Male Rats

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of oral creatine supplementation on biochemical markers of liver, kidney and testis in the male rats under swimming training plan. In this study, male Wistar rats, weighing 245±5gr, were divided into five groups (n=8): control, exercise plus zero dose, exercise plus low-dose, exercise plus moderate dose and exercise plus high dose of creatine (200,300 and 600 mg/kg/d respectively). Biochemical studies of blood serum were performed ten days after creatine supplementation and swimming exercises. Following serum collection, the alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine and testosterone levels were measured using spectrophotometry method. Statistical analysis was performed by SPSS software using mixed model ANOVA. serum levels of ALP showed statistically significant differences between groups receiving low and moderate doses of creatine compared to both control and exercise with zero dose (p<0.05). Also, the results of serum levels of BUN, ALT and AST showed there was no significant difference between the exercise plus zero dose of creatine, exercise plus low-doses of creatine group, exercise plus moderate dose of creatine, exercise plus high dose of creatine groups and control group. The exercise group with high doses of creatine significantly showed a higher serum creatinine level than control group (p<0.05).The serum testosterone level was significantly higher in the exercise with moderate doses of creatine group than in the control group and exercise plus zerecaratin dose (p<0.05). The results suggested that short-term creatine supplementation (up to 10 days) might adversely affect some biochemical markers of liver, kidney and testis. However, further studies are necessarily needed to clarify the consumption of short-term creatine supplementation.