A CREATINE-PHOSPHOCREATINE RESEARCH IN UKRAINE AND RUSSIA

Abstract

PURPOSE The purpose of this abstract is to introduce early investigations of the role of creatine and its supplementation in the functioning of skeletal muscle that are unfamiliar to western literature. Palladin pioneered such investigations with the publication in of his monograph “Biosynthesis and excretion of creatine in animals” (1916). METHODS/RESULTS Palladin discovered elevated levels of PCr in fast twitch (white) muscle fibers when compared to slow twitch (red) muscle fibers in rodents (Palladin, Epelbaum, 1928). Further investigations in Ukraine revealed that electrically stimulated chronic muscle contraction lead to increases in muscle concentrations of Cr and PCr (Palladin, Ferdman, 1927; Palladin, Epelbaum, 1928). Later Russian studies involving human subjects were specifically designed for the preparation of elite Soviet athletes (Volkov, 1990). The 125 mg per kg of body weight dose of creatine was both acutely and chronically supplemented to elite track and field athletes with particular attention focused on the performances in shorter distances (100 m and 200 m). CONCLUSIONS These studies revealed that creatine supplementation elicited beneficial effects on the biochemical and physiological measures in both aerobic and anaerobic metabolism as well as increased exercise performance of athletes involved in short periods of high-power activity. Implementation of the results determined that members of the national USSR track and field team who were involved in creatine supplementation experienced a 1% improvement in the 100 m sprint and a 1.7% improvement in the 200 m (Volkov, 1990; Volkov, 1991).