Green Tea Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Green Tea, including details on benefits, antioxidants, weight loss, diet, side effects.

Epicatechin gallate increases glutamate uptake and S100B secretion in C6 cell lineage.

Abib RT, Quincozes-Santos A, Nardin P, Wofchuk ST, Perry ML, Gonçalves CA, Gottfried C

Departamento de Bioquímica, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Instituto de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, Rua Ramiro Barcelos 2600 anexo, 90035 -003, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.

There is a current interest in dietary compounds, such as green tea polyphenols, that can favor protection against a variety of brain disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, ischemia, and stroke. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of ((_))-epicatechin-3-gallate (ECG), one of three three major green tea antioxidants, on C6 lineage cells. Here, we evaluated cell morphology and integrity and specific astrocyte activities; glutamate uptake and secretion of S100B in the presence of 0.1, 1 and 10 muM ECG. During 6 h of incubation, cell morphology was altered only at 10 muM ECG; however, after 24 h of treatment, cells become stellate in the presence of all concentrations of ECG. Loss of cell integrity was observed after 24 h with 10 muM ECG and represented only 6% of cells, in contrast with 2% observed at basal conditions. ECG (1-10 muM) induced a decrease (about 36%) in glutamate uptake after 1 h of incubation. After 6 h, an opposite effect occurred and ECG induced a sustained increase in glutamate uptake of about 70% from 0.1 muM. In addition, a significant increase in S100B was observed at 1 muM ECG (36%) and 10 muM ECG (69%) after 1 h, in contrast to 6 h of treatment, where all doses of ECG induced a significant increase (about 60%) in S100B secretion. These data demonstrate that ECG induces a significant improvement in glutamate uptake and S100B secretion in C6 cells, indicating that ECG could contribute to the neuroprotective role of astroglial cells.

Published 25 February 2008 in Mol Cell Biochem, 310(1): 153-8.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2004-2008 Green Tea Research Today. All Rights Reserved.