Does creatine affect dopamine levels?

In a randomised study in healthy individuals, creatine had no measurable effect on the amount of dopamine in the blood. In this study, participants received five grams of creatine four times a day for seven days, after which they were kept awake for 24 hours. Plasma dopamine did rise in both groups, but that was the result of the sleep deprivation itself, not of the creatine. Creatine did not perform better than placebo¹.

In animal research the picture looks different. In mice exposed to a neurotoxin that damages the dopamine system, creatine protected against the loss of dopamine in a brain region that is central to Parkinson's disease in a dose-dependent manner. The loss of dopamine-producing nerve cells was also smaller in the creatine group². These are exclusively findings from animal models and have not been translated into demonstrated effects in humans.

The combination of creatine with coenzyme Q10 provided additional protection of the dopamine system in the same type of animal research and also inhibited the accumulation of a harmful protein that is characteristic of Parkinson's disease. Whether this additive effect is equally strong in humans is unknown².

For Parkinson's disease in humans, creatine has been investigated in clinical studies. A smaller phase II study showed a positive signal on a measure of disease severity, but large phase III results were not available at the time of publication in 2011. Whether creatine actually influences dopamine levels in the human brain cannot be determined on the basis of the available studies².