Premium
Creatine Supplementation Exhibits Sex Differences in White Adipose Tissue and Increases Mitochondrial Markers in Female Rats
Author(s) -
Ryan Chantal Rose,
Dunham Tyler,
Murphy Jensen,
Roy Brian D.,
MacPherson Rebecca E.K.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2020.34.s1.04601
Subject(s) - creatine , medicine , endocrinology , white adipose tissue , thermogenin , creatine monohydrate , adipose tissue , biology , brown adipose tissue , thermogenesis , creatine kinase , citrate synthase , uncoupling protein , biochemistry , pathology , placebo , alternative medicine , enzyme
Activation of white adipose tissue (WAT) thermogenesis, known as WAT browning, has emerged as an attractive approach to treat obesity and obesity‐related diseases. Traditionally BAT or browning WAT has been defined by the expression of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1), a mitochondrial protein that uncouples respiration from ATP production. However, recent work has highlighted creatine metabolism or futile cycling as a potential thermogenic pathway. Creatine‐driven futile cycling is a catabolic process which results in ATP oxidation by mitochondrial creatine kinase, resulting in the phosphorylation of creatine and increases in ADP concentrations that drive thermogenic respiration. The purpose of the present study was two‐fold: 1) to determine the effects of creatine supplementation on markers of WAT browning, and 2) to determine if creatine supplementation exhibits sex differences. Thirty‐two Sprague‐Dawley rats (16 male, 16 female) were randomly assigned to one of four experimental groups: control, 2.5g/L, 5g/L and 10g/L of creatine monohydrate (CM) and 1% sucrose via drinking water. Rats had ad libitum access to their drinking water and a standard chow diet (AIN‐93G) throughout the study. Following the 8‐week intervention, brown interscapular adipose (BAT) and white subcutaneous inguinal (iWAT) fat depots were collected. Western blotting analysis demonstrated no significant changes in BAT samples for both males and females. Males had lower cytochrome C than females with 10g/L of creatine monohydrate (p<0.05). In iWAT, mitochondrial markers (COXIV, PDH, citrate synthase, and cytochrome C) and GAMT exhibit no changes in males, however, a decrease in UCP‐1 at 5g/L compared to control was observed (p<0.05). Females exhibit a lower control PDH content than males (p<0.01) in iWAT, accompanied by an increase in PDH levels at all doses of CM compared to control (p<0.05). Furthermore, in females COXIV and cytochrome C presented significant increases with 5g/L and 10g/L, respectively (p<0.05). Both males and females did not present with body weight differences despite dose differences. This study presents novel work demonstrating that female WAT exhibits less mitochondrial markers than males under control conditions, however it demonstrates the potential for CM supplementation to increase female adipose thermogenicity to a similar level observed in males. Support or Funding Information Supported by NSERC, Canada