Effects of Oral Supplementation With Creatine on Systemic Microvascular Endothelial Function in Vegetarian Individuals
Condition: Endothelial Dysfunction; Hyperhomocysteinemia
MeSH terms: Hyperhomocysteinemia
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The present study aims at investigating the effects of the oral supplementation with creatine
      on the systemic microvascular reactivity and plasma levels of homocysteine in vegetarian
      individuals of the vegan type.
    

Detailed description: 
      A vegetarian is an individual who lives on a diet of grains, pulses, legumes, nuts, seeds,
      vegetables, fruits, fungi, algae, yeast and/or some other non-animal-based foods, with or
      without, dairy products, honey and/or eggs. A vegetarian does not eat foods that consist of,
      or have been produced with the aid of products consisting of or created from, any part of the
      body of a living or dead animal. This includes meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, insects,
      by-products of slaughter** or any food made with processing aids created from these.

      There are different types of vegetarian: i) Lacto-ovo-vegetarians eat both dairy products and
      eggs; this is the most common type of vegetarian diet; ii) Lacto-vegetarians eat dairy
      products but avoid eggs; iii) Ovo-vegetarians eat eggs but not dairy products; iv) Vegans do
      not eat dairy products, eggs, or any other products which are derived from animals.

      Vegetarian individuals are considered to have lower cardiovascular risk for the development
      of cardiovascular diseases and lower cardiovascular mortality, when compared to omnivore
      individuals.

      Nevertheless, some vegetarian diets may result in the deficiency of micronutrients and induce
      deficiency in some compounds such as vitamins, amino-acids, iron, zinc, calcium, omega-3
      fatty acids and so on.

      Moreover, vegetarian individuals can present deficiency in amino-acids such as carnosine and
      creatine, present essentially in the skeletal muscle of animals. In this context, deficiency
      in creatine has been considered as a risk factor for hyperhomocysteinemia and the consequent
      dysfunction of the vascular endothelium.

      Hyperhomocysteinemia also is known to be an independent risk factor for cardiovascular
      diseases similar to hypertension, smoke and dyslipidemia.

      In the present study, we investigate the effects of creatine supplementation in the systemic
      microvascular endothelial function and density in vegan-vegetarians presenting with normo- or
      hyperhomocysteinemia using laser-based skin flowmetry and video-capillaroscopy. We also
      investigate the effects of creatine supplementation on lipid and glycemic profile and plasma
      homocysteine levels.

      Microvascular reactivity is evaluated using a laser speckle contrast imaging system in
      combination with the iontophoresis of acetylcholine (ACh), for the noninvasive and continuous
      measurement of cutaneous microvascular perfusion changes.

      Microvascular density in the skin is evaluated using intravital video-microscopy.
    

Intervention name(s): monohydrate and micronized creatine; placebo
Intervention type(s): Dietary Supplement; Other
Intervention description(s): oral supplementation with creatine; oral supplementation with maltodextrin (control group)
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: creatine or placebo supplementation
Masking: Single (Participant)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: vegetarianism; Hyperhomocysteinemia; vegan vegetarian