AUTHOR=Stautemas Jan , Everaert Inge , Lefevere Filip B. D. , Derave Wim 

TITLE=Pharmacokinetics of β-Alanine Using Different Dosing Strategies

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Nutrition

VOLUME=5

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2018.00070

DOI=10.3389/fnut.2018.00070

ISSN=2296-861X

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Introduction:</bold> The ergogenic response following long-term ingestion of β-alanine shows a high inter-individual variation. It is hypothesized that this variation is partially caused by a variable pharmacokinetic response induced by inferior dosing strategies. At this point most supplements are either taken in a fixed amount (× g), as is the case with β-alanine, or relative to body weight (× g per kg BW), but there is currently neither consensus nor a scientific rationale on why these or other dosing strategies should be used. The aim of this study is to objectify and understand the variation in plasma pharmacokinetics of a single oral β-alanine dose supplemented as either a fixed or a weight-relative dose (WRD) in an anthropometric diverse sample.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> An anthropometric diverse sample ingested a fixed dose (1,400 mg) (<italic>n</italic> = 28) and a WRD of β-alanine (10 mg/kg BW) (<italic>n</italic> = 34) on separate occasions. Blood samples were taken before and at nine time points (up to 4 h) after β-alanine ingestion in order to establish a pharmacokinetic profile. Incremental area under the curve (iAUC) was calculated by the trapezoidal rule. Plasma β-alanine was quantified using HPLC-fluorescence.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> The variation coefficient (CV%) of the iAUC was 35.0% following ingestion of 1,400 mg β-alanine. Body weight explained 30.1% of the variance and was negatively correlated to iAUC (<italic>r</italic> = −0.549; <italic>p</italic> = 0.003). Interestingly, the CV% did not decrease with WRD (33.2%) and body weight was positively correlated to iAUC in response to the WRD (<italic>r</italic> = 0.488; <italic>p</italic> = 0.003).</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> Both dosing strategies evoked an equally high inter-individual variability in pharmacokinetic plasma profile. Strikingly, while body weight explained a relevant part of the variation observed following a fixed dose, correction for body weight did not improve the homogeneity in β-alanine plasma response. We suggest to put more effort into the optimization of easy applicable and scientifically justified personalized dosing strategies.</p>