TY - JOUR
T1 - Theanine, the main amino acid in tea, prevents stress-induced brain atrophy by modifying early stress responses
AU - Unno, Keiko
AU - Sumiyoshi, Akira
AU - Konishi, Tomokazu
AU - Hayashi, Michiko
AU - Taguchi, Kyoko
AU - Muguruma, Yoshio
AU - Inoue, Koichi
AU - Iguchi, Kazuaki
AU - Nonaka, Hiroi
AU - Kawashima, Ryuta
AU - Hasegawa-Ishii, Sanae
AU - Shimada, Atsuyoshi
AU - Nakamura, Yoriyuki
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: This research study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI 23617014 and 15K00828), a grant for specially promoted research of the Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, a Honjo International Scholarship Foundation and a grant from the University of Shizuoka.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, MDPI AG. All rights reserved.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Brain atrophy
KW - Chronic stress
KW - Hippocampus
KW - MRI analysis
KW - Prefrontal cortex
KW - SAMP10
KW - Theanine
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U2 - 10.3390/nu12010174
DO - 10.3390/nu12010174
M3 - Article
C2 - 31936294
AN - SCOPUS:85077862228
VL - 12
JO - Nutrients
JF - Nutrients
SN - 2072-6643
IS - 1
M1 - 174
ER -