Creatine Effect on Brown Adipose Tissue Activation

Creatine Monohydrate Supplementation in Young, Healthy Vegetarian Adults and Its Effect on Brown Adipose Tissue Activation

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT04086381

Acronym

CreaBAT

Enrollment

Registered

2019-09-11

Start date

2018-05-01

Completion date

2020-01-22

Last updated

2021-02-24

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Brown Adipose Tissue Activation, Diet-induced Thermogenesis

Keywords

Brown adipose tissue, Creatine monohydrate, Diet-induced thermogenesis

Brief summary

Pre-clinical studies indicate that creatine may play a substantial role in diet-induced thermogenesis and may have a profound effect on energy balance. A recent retrospective study of BAT activation on PET-CT scans in humans showed a positive association with the estimated renal creatinine clearance and BAT activation, possibly linking creatine metabolism in humans to BAT activity. In humans, so far little options are available to activate brown adipose tissue. The most potent intervention to activate BAT is via cold, which has previously been shown to have metabolic effects in humans. Provided the potential health benefits of brown adipose tissue activation in humans, and provided the role of brown fat in diet induced thermogenesis, we here aim to determine whether creatine monohydrate supplementation can increase diet-induced thermogenesis and activate brown adipose tissue in humans.

Interventions

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENTCreatine monohydrate

5 grams of creatine monohydrate, four times daily, for 9 consecutive days.

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENTplacebo cellulose

oral ingestion of placebo containing 20 gram cellulose daily

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

CROSSOVER

Primary purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

DOUBLE (Subject, Investigator)

Intervention model description

A double-blind, randomised, controlled, cross-over intervention trial.

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to 30 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Male or female; * 18 to 30 years of age; * Consuming a vegetarian diet; * BMI 20-25 kg/m2.

Exclusion criteria

* Not meeting all inclusion criteria; * Non-vegetarian diet; * Excessive alcohol and/or drug abuse; * Significant allergies or intolerances concerning the study products; * Participation in another biomedical study within 1 month before the first study visit, possibly interfering with the study results; * Medication use known to hamper subject's safety during the study procedures; * Subjects with contra-indications for MRI and/or PET-CT; * Subjects who do not want to be informed about unexpected medical findings; * Subjects who do not want that their treating physician to be informed; * Co-morbidities to which the intervention or program that may pose as a complicating factor; * Inability to participate and/or complete the required measurements; * PET-CT scan in the last 12 months.

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Brown adipose tissue activation through 18F-FDG PET-MRI	Day 10 of protocol	Standard Uptake Value (SUV)

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Diet-induced thermogenesis through indirect calorimetry	Day 8 of protocol	Whole body energy expenditure in kJ/kg/min
Posphocreatine (PCr) Recovery through 31P-MRS	Day 9 of protocol	Halftime of PCr Recovery

Countries

Netherlands

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 24, 2026