Skip to content
2000
image of Creatine-Guanidinoacetic Acid Supplementation Improves Esports Performance in Young Men

Abstract

Background

The primary objective of this open-label quasi-experimental pilot study was to investigate the effects of co-administered creatine and guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) on esports performance, neuropsychological outcomes, and creatine status in young male esports athletes.

Methods

We explored the impact of a 4-week supplementation with a creatine and GAA mixture on esports performance in Dota 2™ game and post-game neuropsychological outcomes among young experienced male esports athletes ( = 10).

Results

The intervention led to significant improvements, including a notable 30.1% increase in total scores for the final Dota 2™ game ( = 0.05), along with a 19.2% reduction in mean reaction time ( = 0.02), a 4.4% increase in accuracy ( = 0.05), and a 16.2% enhancement in executive control ( = 0.01).

Discussion

The effectiveness of lower doses of creatine and guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) observed in our study may be attributed to the enhanced capacity of GAA to cross the blood–brain barrier, thereby facilitating sustained cerebral creatine synthesis and supporting the elevated energy demands associated with esports performance.

Conclusion

These preliminary findings indicate that the blend may be an effective performance-enhancing intervention in esports. However, the lack of a control group, the small sample size, and the short study duration limit the generalizability and robustness of the results.

© 2025 Bentham Science Publishers
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/cnf/10.2174/0115734013384498250508080231
2025-05-15
2025-09-08

  • From This Site

    /content/journals/cnf/10.2174/0115734013384498250508080231
    dcterms_title,dcterms_subject,pub_keyword
    -contentType:Contributor -contentType:Concept -contentType:Institution
    10
    5
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Wax B. Kerksick C.M. Jagim A.R. Mayo J.J. Lyons B.C. Kreider R.B. Creatine for exercise and sports performance, with recovery considerations for healthy populations. Nutrients 2021 13 6 1915 10.3390/nu13061915 34199588
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Borchio L. Machek S.B. Machado M. Supplemental creatine monohydrate loading improves cognitive function in experienced mountain bikers. J. Sports Med. Phys. Fitness 2020 60 8 1168 1170 10.23736/S0022‑4707.20.10589‑9 32955844
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Hammett S.T. Wall M.B. Edwards T.C. Smith A.T. Dietary supplementation of creatine monohydrate reduces the human fMRI BOLD signal. Neurosci. Lett. 2010 479 3 201 205 10.1016/j.neulet.2010.05.054 20570601
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Benton D. Donohoe R. The influence of creatine supplementation on the cognitive functioning of vegetarians and omnivores. Br. J. Nutr. 2011 105 7 1100 1105 10.1017/S0007114510004733 21118604
    [Google Scholar]
  5. McMorris T. Harris R.C. Swain J. Corbett J. Collard K. Dyson R.J. Dye L. Hodgson C. Draper N. Effect of creatine supplementation and sleep deprivation, with mild exercise, on cognitive and psychomotor performance, mood state, and plasma concentrations of catecholamines and cortisol. Psychopharmacology 2006 185 1 93 103 10.1007/s00213‑005‑0269‑z 16416332
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Cook C.J. Crewther B.T. Kilduff L.P. Drawer S. Gaviglio C.M. Skill execution and sleep deprivation: effects of acute caffeine or creatine supplementation - A randomized placebo-controlled trial. J. Int. Soc. Sports Nutr. 2011 8 2 10.1186/1550‑2783‑8‑2 21324203
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Merege-Filho C.A. Otaduy M.C. de Sá-Pinto A.L. de Oliveira M.O. de Souza Gonçalves L. Hayashi A.P. Roschel H. Pereira R.M. Silva C.A. Brucki S.M. da Costa Leite C. Gualano B. Does brain creatine content rely on exogenous creatine in healthy youth? A proof-of-principle study. Appl. Physiol. Nutr. Metab. 2017 42 2 128 134 10.1139/apnm‑2016‑0406 28079396
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Rawson E.S. Lieberman H.R. Walsh T.M. Zuber S.M. Harhart J.M. Matthews T.C. Creatine supplementation does not improve cognitive function in young adults. Physiol. Behav. 2008 95 1-2 130 134 10.1016/j.physbeh.2008.05.009 18579168
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Moriarty T. Bourbeau K. Dorman K. Runyon L. Glaser N. Brandt J. Hoodjer M. Forbes S.C. Candow D.G. Dose-response of creatine supplementation on cognitive function in healthy young adults. Brain Sci. 2023 13 9 1276 10.3390/brainsci13091276 37759877
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Avgerinos K.I. Spyrou N. Bougioukas K.I. Kapogiannis D. Effects of creatine supplementation on cognitive function of healthy individuals: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Exp. Gerontol. 2018 108 166 173 10.1016/j.exger.2018.04.013 29704637
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Roschel H. Gualano B. Ostojic S.M. Rawson E.S. Creatine supplementation and brain health. Nutrients 2021 13 2 586 10.3390/nu13020586 33578876
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Ostojic S.M. Ostojic J. Drid P. Vranes M. Guanidinoacetic acid versus creatine for improved brain and muscle creatine levels: A superiority pilot trial in healthy men. Appl. Physiol. Nutr. Metab. 2016 41 9 1005 1007 10.1139/apnm‑2016‑0178 27560540
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Semeredi S. Stajer V. Ostojic J. Vranes M. Ostojic S.M. Guanidinoacetic acid with creatine compared with creatine alone for tissue creatine content, hyperhomocysteinemia, and exercise performance: A randomized, double-blind superiority trial. Nutrition 2019 57 162 166 10.1016/j.nut.2018.04.009 30170305
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Szot M. Karpęcka-Gałka E. Dróżdż R. Frączek B. Can nutrients and dietary supplements potentially improve cognitive performance also in esports? Healthcare 2022 10 2 186 10.3390/healthcare10020186 35206801
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Baltic S. Nedeljkovic D. Todorovic N. Ranisavljev M. Korovljev D. Cvejic J. Ostojic J. LeBaron T.W. Timmcke J. Stajer V. Ostojic S.M. The impact of six-week dihydrogen-pyrroloquinoline quinone supplementation on mitochondrial biomarkers, brain metabolism, and cognition in elderly individuals with mild cognitive impairment: A randomized controlled trial. J. Nutr. Health Aging 2024 28 8 100287 10.1016/j.jnha.2024.100287 38908296
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Scarpina F. Tagini S. The stroop color and word test. Front. Psychol. 2017 8 557 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00557 28446889
    [Google Scholar]
  17. MacLeod J.W. Lawrence M.A. McConnell M.M. Eskes G.A. Klein R.M. Shore D.I. Appraising the ANT: Psychometric and theoretical considerations of the attention network test. Neuropsychology 2010 24 5 637 651 10.1037/a0019803 20804252
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Jovanov P. Vraneš M. Sakač M. Gadžurić S. Panić J. Marić A. Ostojić S. Hydrophilic interaction chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry as a method for simultaneous determination of guanidinoacetate and creatine. Anal. Chim. Acta 2018 1028 96 103 10.1016/j.aca.2018.03.038 29884358
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Tachikawa M. Ikeda S. Fujinawa J. Hirose S. Akanuma S. Hosoya K. γ-Aminobutyric acid transporter 2 mediates the hepatic uptake of guanidinoacetate, the creatine biosynthetic precursor, in rats. PLoS One 2012 7 2 e32557 10.1371/journal.pone.0032557 22384273
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/cnf/10.2174/0115734013384498250508080231
Loading
Creatine-Guanidinoacetic Acid Supplementation Improves Esports Performance in Young Men
Bentham Science Publishers ; https://doi.org/10.2174/0115734013384498250508080231
/content/journals/cnf/10.2174/0115734013384498250508080231
/content/journals/cnf/10.2174/0115734013384498250508080231
Loading

Data & Media loading...


  • Article Type:     Research Article
Keywords: Performance ; creatinine ; accuracy ; guanidinoacetic acid ; reaction time ; executive control

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error
Please enter a valid_number test