Creatine is the "Poor Man's CoQ10 and is in trials somewhere. It is widely used in the sports world-


1. Behav Brain Res. 2009 Jan 30;197(1):90-6. Epub 2008 Aug 12.

Oral creatine supplementation attenuates L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia in
6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats.

Valastro B, Dekundy A, Danysz W, Quack G.

Preclinical Research and Development, In Vitro Screening, Merz Pharmaceuticals
GmbH, Altenhöferallee 3, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia (LID) is among the motor complications that arise in
Parkinson patients after a prolonged treatment with levodopa (L-DOPA). Since
previous transcriptome and proteomic studies performed in the rat model of LID
suggested important changes in striatal energy-related components, we hypothesize
that oral creatine supplementation could prevent or attenuate the occurrence of
LID. In this study, 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats received a 2%
creatine-supplemented diet for 1 month prior to L-DOPA therapy. During the 21
days of L-DOPA treatment, significant reductions in abnormal involuntary
movements (AIMs) have been observed in the creatine-supplemented group, without
any worsening of parkinsonism. In situ hybridization histochemistry and
immunohistochemistry analysis of the striatum also showed a reduction in the
levels of prodynorphin mRNA and FosB/DeltaFosB-immunopositive cells in
creatine-supplemented diet group, an effect that was dependant on the development
of AIMs. Further investigation of the bioenergetics' status of the denervated
striatum revealed significant changes in the levels of creatine both after L-DOPA
alone and with the supplemented diet. In conclusion, we demonstrated that
combining L-DOPA therapy with a diet enriched in creatine could attenuate LID,
which may represent a new way to control the motor complications associated with
L-DOPA therapy.

PMID: 18762218 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]