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Green
Tea compounds beat OSA-related Brain
deficits
Newswise — Researchers examined the effects
green tea polyphenols (GTP), administered
through drinking water, on rats who were
intermittently deprived of oxygen during
12-hour “night” cycles, mimicking the
intermittent hypoxia (IH) that humans with
OSA experience.
People with OSA have been reported to have
increased markers of oxidative stress and
exhibit architectural changes in their brain
tissue in areas involved in learning and
memory. Chronic IH in rats produce similar
neurological deficit patterns.
“OSA has been increasingly recognized as a
serious and frequent health condition with
potential long-term morbidities that include
learning and psychological disabilities
[…],” wrote David Gozal, M.D., professor and
director of Kosair Children’s Hospital
Research Institute at the University of
Louisville, lead author of the article.
“A growing body of evidence suggests that
the adverse neurobehavioral consequences
imposed by IH stem, at least in part, from
oxidative stress and inflammatory signaling
cascades.”
GTPs are known to possess anti-oxidant
properties, acting as a free radical
scavengers, and research has shown that the
compounds may reduce the risk of a variety
of different diseases.
“Recent studies have demonstrated the
neuroprotective activity of GTP in animal
models of neurodegenerative conditions such
as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease,”
wrote Dr. Gozal.
In this study, the researchers divided 106
male rats into two groups that underwent
intermittent oxygen depletion during the
12-hour “night” cycle for 14 days. One group
received drinking water treated with GTP;
the other received plain drinking water.
They were then tested for markers of
inflammation and oxidative stress, as well
as for performance in spatial learning and
memory tasks—namely a water “maze” in which
the rat had to memorize the location of a
hidden platform.
The IH-rats that received the green
tea-treated water performed significantly
better in a water maze than the rats that
drank plain water.
“GTP-treated rats exposed to IH displayed
significantly greater spatial bias for the
previous hidden platform position,
indicating that GTPs are capable of
attenuating IH-induced spatial learning
deficits,” wrote Dr. Gozal, adding that GTPs
“may represent a potential interventional
strategy for patients” with sleep-disordered
breathing.
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