Creatine loading for chronic migraine?
Sergej M Ostojic Cephalagia June 2, 2020
A disbalance in brain creatine levels has been found in various brain pathologies, including inherited creatine deficiency syndromes, neurodegenerative diseases, and stroke (4). A reduction of brain creatine modifies the energy requirements of cells and eventually leads to oxidative stress and neuronal death that typically affects certain brain areas (e.g. thalamus, cerebellum, white matter tracts, cortical grey matter), with the restoration of cerebral creatine after therapeutic creatine supplementation accompanied by an improvement of clinical outcomes in certain conditions (e.g. Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, amiotrophic lateral sclerosis, stroke).
Tackling brain creatine deficit with oral creatine (C4H9N3O2) following traumatic headaches can also lead to favorable alterations in biological markers related to specific neuropathology and improves patient-reported outcomes in clinical studies (5). Specifically, creatine loading could enable maintaining/restoring the cell membrane potentials and ATP buffering, and might reduce migraine-like symptoms (e.g. headache, dizziness, light and sound sensitivity) after mild traumatic brain injury in the pediatric population (6,7).
These promising results in secondary headaches should be extended to chronic migraine and verified by direct investigation of the relationship between brain creatine levels and clinical outcomes after an intervention.