Protective effects of regular aerobic exercise on renal tissue injury following creatine monohydrate supplementation in rats

Creatine is one of the most common supplements for improvement of athletic performance which is used by athletes. The most important debate about creatine consumption is its adverse effect on kidneys due to increased protein load. This study was performed to evaluate the protective effects of aerobic exercise on renal tissue injury following consumption of creatine monohydrate in the rat. For this purpose, 30 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 3 groups of 10 animals each. Group 1, as control, received only standard food. Group 2 received 5 g/kg b.w. creatine monohydrate supplement daily for 8 weeks through gavage and group 3 received creatine monohydrate supplementation in the same manner30 minutes before aerobic exercise. Aerobic exercise was performed 5 times per week on treadmill at speed of 10-25m/min for 10-30 minutes with the slope of 5 degrees. At the end of 8 weeks, water intake and urinary excretion of rats were measured and blood samples were collected for measurement of serum renal function biomarkers including urea, uric acid and creatinine. Finally, the rats were euthanized for renal histopathology. In group 3, by doing regular aerobic exercise, water intake and urinary excretion rates were significantly (p<0.05) increased compared to group 2 and serum biomarkers of kidney injury decreased significantly (p<0.05). In group 3, microscopic studies showed a significant (p<0.05) reduction of glomerulo-tubular and renal interstitial damages compared to group 2. The results showed that regular aerobic exercise can ameliorate kidney tissue damage following creatine monohydrate supplementation in rats. Conflict of interest: None declared.