Creatine supplementation reduces sleep need and homeostatic sleep pressure in rats

The piezoelectric cage-floor sensors have been used to successfully dissect sleep patterns in mice based on signal features related to respiration and body movements.We studied performance of the piezoelectric system to quantify the sleep-wake pattern in the rat over 7 days of recording compared with a visual electroencephalogram/electromyogram scoring, and under two light/dark (LD12:12 and LD16:8) photoperiods leading to change in the 24-hr sleep characteristics (N = 7 per group).The total sleep time (%/24 hr) over the 7 days recording and hourly sleep time over the last 24-hr recording were not statistically different between methods under the two photoperiods. Both methods detected higher total sleep time with the LD16:8 photoperiod compared with LD12:12 (p < .05), and correlated significantly (p < .001) at light and dark periods during each photoperiod. The accuracies for discrimination of sleep-wake patterns between methods were 81.9% and 84.9% for LD12:12 and LD16:8, respectively. In addition, spectral analysis of the respiratory signal given by piezo during all 10-s periods of the corresponding non-rapid eye movement and rapid eye movement sleep periods recorded by electroencephalogram/electromyogram resulted in selection of 36 features that could be inserted in an automated non-rapid eye movement sleep and rapid eye movement sleep classification, with 90% accuracy with the electroencephalogram/electromyogram visual scoring. The piezo system proved to be a reliable non-invasive alternative to electroencephalogram recording to study total sleep time in rat, with feasibility to discriminate between non-rapid eye movement and rapid eye movement sleep stages. This will be interesting in pharmacological or bio-behavioural studies evaluating sleep patterns or the restorative functions of sleep in the body and the brain.

ZusammenfassungErholsamer Schlaf beeinflusst nachhaltig unsere Lebensqualität. Schlafstörungen im Sinne von definierten Erkrankungen führen zu erheblicher Krankheitsbelastung. Deshalb liegt die Frage nahe, ob durch Nahrungsergänzungsmittel das Schlafverhalten optimiert werden kann und ob sie supportiv bei Schlafstörungen eingesetzt werden können. Unter Berücksichtigung der biochemischen Abläufe, die dem Schlaf-Wach-Verhalten zugrunde liegen, sind Tryptophan, Serotonin und Melatonin Schlüsselsubstanzen. Zu berücksichtigen sind auch die verstärkenden Kofaktoren bei Stoffwechselprozessen wie Eisen, Vitamin B6 und Magnesium. Diese kommen in der Orthomolekularmedizin zur Förderung des Schlaf-Wach-Verhaltens zum Einsatz. Bei Hinweisen auf Mangelernährung oder zusätzlichen Nahrungsergänzungsbedarf sind die seitens des Bundesinstituts für Risikobewertung (BfR) für Nahrungsergänzungsmittel zusammengestellten Höchstmengen zu beachten. Beim Vorliegen von Schlafstörungen im Sinne definierter Erkrankungen (wie dem Restless-Legs-Syndrom) sind therapeutische Dosen erforderlich.

Creatine monohydrate (CrM) is one of the most widely used nutritional supplements among active individuals and athletes to improve high-intensity exercise performance and training adaptations. However, research suggests that CrM supplementation may also serve as a therapeutic tool in the management of some chronic and traumatic diseases. Creatine supplementation has been reported to improve high-energy phosphate availability as well as have antioxidative, neuroprotective, anti-lactatic, and calcium-homoeostatic effects. These characteristics may have a direct impact on mitochondrion’s survival and health particularly during stressful conditions such as ischemia and injury. This narrative review discusses current scientific evidence for use or supplemental CrM as a therapeutic agent during conditions associated with mitochondrial dysfunction. Based on this analysis, it appears that CrM supplementation may have a role in improving cellular bioenergetics in several mitochondrial dysfunction-related diseases, ischemic conditions, and injury pathology and thereby could provide therapeutic benefit in the management of these conditions. However, larger clinical trials are needed to explore these potential therapeutic applications before definitive conclusions can be drawn.