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Impact of creatine supplementation on inflammation: evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized double-blind placebo trials

Kell Mazzini Ribeiro de Camargo, Alejandro Bruna-Mejías, Juan José Valenzuela-Fuenzalida, Luana A Gonzaga, Sandra Maria Barbalho, Alexandre L Barroca, Andrey A Porto, Rodrigo D Raimundo, Luiz Carlos de Abreu, Vitor E Valenti

Front Immunol 2026 17:1743603

Bibliography

PubMed: PMID 41798953
PubMed Central: PMC12961398
DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2026.1743603
Funding: No explicit funding statement was located in the accessible PubMed/PMC record during the 2026-10-02 audit; the paper includes funding information for individual included trials. This is an audit-status statement, not confirmation that the review received no support.
Competing interests: Authors declared that the work was conducted without commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Study snapshot

Design	Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trials
Model	Human
Sample	8 randomized controlled trials
Intervention	Creatine supplementation versus placebo across healthy, athletic and clinical populations
Duration	Varied by included trial; acute and chronic inflammatory outcomes analyzed separately
Endpoints	C-reactive protein (CRP); IL-6; IL-1β; TNF-α; Prostaglandin E2; Other inflammatory biomarkers

What the study showed, in plain terms

2026 quantitative synthesis of randomized human evidence testing whether creatine meaningfully reduces acute or chronic inflammatory biomarkers.

Key findings

Pooled analyses did not show significant effects on acute CRP or chronic CRP or IL-6. Moderate-certainty evidence therefore does not support creatine as a consistent systemic anti-inflammatory intervention, although individual exercise-stress studies were heterogeneous.

What this study can and cannot tell us

Only eight trials were included, populations and protocols were heterogeneous, and missing outcome data affected risk-of-bias assessments. A publisher correction was issued (DOI 10.3389/fimmu.2026.1840983) to correct author-affiliation information; the original article was updated. The authors also disclosed use of generative-AI tools for idea generation, structure refinement and English-language review, with final content reviewed by the authors.

Citation network

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Oct 2, 2026 Creatine for Strength and Performance: Power, Sprints and Endurance EvidenceCreatine performance evidence separated by outcome: strength, repeated high-intensity work, power, sprinting and why endurance results are much weaker.Read analysis

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Last verified 02 October 2026

Dr. Khaled Mahmoud, MBBChCritical Care Medicine, Longevity Science & Editorial Direction