Creatine

What is creatine?

Creatine plays an important role in supplying energy to cells to cope with energy demands (R). In humans, it is produced from the amino acids arginine, glycine, and methionine in the kidney, liver, and pancreas (R). However, this endogenous synthesis of creatine is not sufficient, so creatine has to be supplemented through the diet, especially fish and meat (R). The level of creatine in skin cells may also fall with age (R), due to a decline in the vascularisation of the skin (R).

Does creatine get absorbed?

When a commercially available cosmetic formulation containing creatine was applied to pig skin, 52% of the creatine was absorbed by the skin after 1 hour, with 87% detected in the stratum corneum, 9% in the epidermis and 4% in the dermis. After another 2 hours, the amount in the stratum corneum fell to 80%, whereas the amounts in the epidermis and dermis rose to 13% and 7% respectively. Only a negligible amount penetrated through the skin however (R).

What happens after creatine is absorbed?

Once it reaches the dermis, creatine is taken up within minutes by fibroblasts via creatine transporter proteins on the skin cells (R, R).