Oxidant-Antioxidant Capacity of Dietary Guanidinoacetic Acid

Background/aims: Guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) is an experimental nutritional additive under the functional group amino acids and derivatives, yet its use in human nutrition is hindered by limited data on GAA safety. In this double blind, placebo-controlled pilot study, we evaluated the effects of dietary GAA (3 g/day) administered for 2 weeks on the oxidant-antioxidant system in healthy men.

Methods: Twelve healthy men (age 22.3 ± 2.1 years) were recruited for blood sampling at baseline (day 0) and at the end of the intervention period (day 14). Fasting venous blood samples were assessed for plasma total antioxidant capacity, superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase, total oxidant status and malondialdehyde.

Results: Fasting plasma SOD increased significantly from before to after administration in GAA-supplemented participants (91.4 ± 19.6 vs. 122.8 ± 25.9 ng/ml; p = 0.04). Other markers of oxidant-antioxidant system were not affected by the placebo or GAA intervention (p > 0.05).

Conclusions: Oral GAA did not impact the cumulative action of antioxidants present in plasma, yet its SOD-boosting capacity might be considered beneficial when GAA is used as a dietary supplement. Further studies are needed to reveal the direct effects of GAA ingestion on markers of lipid and protein oxidation and on DNA damage.