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Guanidinoacetic acid (GAA; also known as glycocyamine) is a natural amino acid-like derivative of glycine and L-arginine. GAA plays several metabolic roles in the human body, with creatine synthesis being recognized as a crucial pathway of GAA utilization. A daily output of GAA largely depends on endogenous synthesis that occurs mainly in the kidney and […]

The objective of this pilot trial was to evaluate the effects of 8-week GAA-creatine supplementation versus placebo on skeletal muscle and brain creatine levels, cognitive function, functional outcomes, and safety biomarkers in men and women aged 65 years and older. Twenty-one healthy elderly individuals (age 69.6 ± 4.9 years, body mass index 27.6 ± 4.2 […]

Dietary guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) has been suggested to be advantageous for favorable changes in tissue bioenergetics in terms of responder versus nonresponder performance, yet no studies so far explored the proportion of two distinct populations following short-term GAA intervention. A secondary analysis of previously completed guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) trials has been carried out in aim […]

This study conducted a secondary analysis of previously completed guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) loading trials categorizing participants into responders and non-responders using cut-off points for an increase in the location-specific levels of brain creatine (e.g. thalamus, cerebellum, white and grey matter). A total of 19 healthy men (mean age = 24.8 years) who were supplemented with […]

Co-administration of creatine and guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) has been recently put forward as an advanced dietary strategy to optimize tissue bioenergetics. We hypothesized that creatine-GAA mixture would result in a more powerful rise in brain and skeletal muscle creatine, as compared to creatine supplementation alone. A randomized, double-blinded, crossover superiority trial has been performed at […]

We conducted a secondary analysis of a previously completed trial to determine the effects of 8-week guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) loading on brain GAA levels in five healthy men. Brain magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) was taken at baseline and post-administration, with spectra additionally analyzed for brain GAA and glutamate concentrations using TARQUIN 4.3.10 software. Brain GAA […]

Guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) is an experimental dietary additive and has been reported to induce methyl depletion when provided by the diet. However, no study evaluated whether supplemental GAA affects DNA methylation, a critical epigenetic process for genome regulation. In this open-label, repeated-measure interventional trial, we evaluated the impact of 12 weeks of GAA supplementation on […]

We analyzed data from previously completed trials to determine the effects of supplemental guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) on markers of muscle bioenergetics in healthy men using 1.5 T magnetic resonance spectroscopy. No detectable GAA (<0.1 μmol/L) was found in the vastus medialis muscle at baseline nor at follow-up. This implies deficient GAA availability in the human […]

In this open-label trial, we examined the effects of the 10-week supplementation with 3 grams per day of GAA on biomarkers of cardiometabolic risk and inflammation in 20 apparently healthy volunteers (10 men and 10 women; age 22.0 ± 2.3 years). GAA had no significant effects on serum hsCRP, HDL cholesterol, insulin, and triglycerides. Clinical […]

Guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) is an experimental dietary additive that might act as a creatine source in tissues with high-energy requirements. In this case study, we evaluated brain levels of creatine in white matter, gray matter, cerebellum, and thalamus during 8 wk oral GAA administration in five healthy men and monitored the prevalence and severity of […]