Study
Feasibility, safety and tolerability of intradialytic creatine supplementation in hemodialysis: A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled pilot study.
In 16 haemodialysis patients, 6 weeks of creatine in dialysate raised circulating creatine but did not test clinical outcomes.
Summary Can creatine added during dialysis safely raise creatine levels? Show / hide ↓
Researchers studied 16 adults receiving haemodialysis, a treatment that cleans the blood when the kidneys cannot. During six weeks of treatment, creatine was added to the dialysis fluid at four different doses. Some participants received a placebo, an inactive treatment, for comparison. Creatine levels in the blood and red blood cells increased more at the higher doses. One person stopped because of a possible side effect, but no serious safety problems occurred, and the study did not test strength, quality of life, or lifespan.
What this means for you: This small study suggests that creatine can enter the body during dialysis, but it does not show that this improves health or longevity. There is not enough evidence to buy creatine for this purpose or change treatment based on these results.
early evidenceA small placebo-controlled pilot examined creatine added to dialysate during haemodialysis. Sixteen patients aged 27 to 78 years completed the study, including nine women. Four sequential groups received 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 or 2.0 mmol/L creatine in dialysate for 6 weeks; within each group, block randomisation allocated creatine or placebo in a 3:1 ratio.
The main outcomes were pre-dialytic creatine concentrations in erythrocytes and plasma. At week 6, the changes in intra-erythrocytic creatine versus placebo were +399, +685, +1146 and +1098 µmol/L across the ascending concentration groups. The 95% confidence interval at 0.5 mmol/L included no increase, while the intervals at the three higher concentrations were positive. One participant at 1.5 mmol/L left because of a possible side effect, but no serious adverse events occurred.
The trial measured whether delivery works, not whether it improves quality of life, muscle function, mortality or any longevity-related outcome. Its conclusion is therefore about feasibility, tolerability and circulating creatine. The abstract itself calls for a larger trial to test clinical effects.
Intradialytic creatine was feasible, safe and well tolerated for increasing circulating creatine in patients receiving haemodialysis.
Only 16 patients completed this 6-week pilot, and all were receiving haemodialysis. Circulating creatine is a surrogate measure; health-related quality of life and mortality were not tested.
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