Creatine and creatine pyruvate reduce hypoxia-induced effects on phrenic nerve activity in the juvenile mouse respiratory system.

Adequate concentrations of ATP are required to preserve physiological cell functions and protect tissue from hypoxic damage. Decreased oxygen concentration results in ATP synthesis relying increasingly on the presence of phosphocreatine. The lack of ATP through hypoxic insult to neurons that generate or regulate respiratory function, would lead to the cessation of breathing (apnea).