Back to Search
Start Over
Theanine, the Main Amino Acid in Tea, Prevents Stress-Induced Brain Atrophy by Modifying Early Stress Responses
- Source :
- Nutrients, Volume 12, Issue 1, Nutrients, Vol 12, Iss 1, p 174 (2020)
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- MDPI, 2020.
-
Abstract
- Chronic stress can impair the health of human brains. An important strategy that may prevent the accumulation of stress may be the consumption of functional foods. When senescence-accelerated mice prone 10 (SAMP10), a stress-sensitive strain, were loaded with stress using imposed male mouse territoriality, brain volume decreased. However, in mice that ingested theanine (6 mg/kg), the main amino acid in tea leaves, brain atrophy was suppressed, even under stress. On the other hand, brain atrophy was not clearly observed in a mouse strain that aged normally (Slc:ddY). The expression level of the transcription factor Npas4 (neuronal PAS domain protein 4), which regulates the formation and maintenance of inhibitory synapses in response to excitatory synaptic activity, decreased in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex of stressed SAMP10 mice, but increased in mice that ingested theanine. Lipocalin 2 (Lcn2), the expression of which increased in response to stress, was significantly high in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex of stressed SAMP10 mice, but not in mice that ingested theanine. These data suggest that Npas4 and Lcn2 are involved in the brain atrophy and stress vulnerability of SAMP10 mice, which are prevented by the consumption of theanine, causing changes in the expression of these genes.
- Subjects :
- 0301 basic medicine
Male
medicine.medical_specialty
hippocampus
Hippocampus
lcsh:TX341-641
Lipocalin
Article
03 medical and health sciences
chemistry.chemical_compound
Mice
0302 clinical medicine
Atrophy
Glutamates
Internal medicine
medicine
Animals
Chronic stress
Prefrontal cortex
chronic stress
chemistry.chemical_classification
prefrontal cortex
Brain Diseases
Nutrition and Dietetics
Tea
SAMP10
Theanine
medicine.disease
Housing, Animal
theanine
Amino acid
MRI analysis
030104 developmental biology
Endocrinology
chemistry
Excitatory postsynaptic potential
lcsh:Nutrition. Foods and food supply
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
brain atrophy
Stress, Psychological
Food Science
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 20726643
- Volume :
- 12
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Nutrients
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....11f174c9d9b5e6dc2741453af4283425