(-)-Gallocatechin gallate from green tea rescues cognitive impairment through restoring hippocampal silent synapses in post-menopausal depression

Sci Rep. 2021 Jan 13;11(1):910. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-79287-x.

Abstract

Post-menopausal depression (PMD) is a common psychological disorder accompanied by a cognitive deficit, which is caused by a series of uncontrolled emotional disruptions by strong environmental stressors during menopause. To overcome PMD-induced cognitive deficit, Green tea has been suggested as a dietary supplement because of its ameliorating effect on cognitive dysfunction induced by normal aging or neurodegenerative syndromes; however, its clinical use to improve PMD-accompanied cognitive deficit is still limited due to the controversy for the active ingredients and ambiguous mechanism of its action. Here, we developed modified high-temperature-processed green tea extract (HTP-GTE), which showed lower neuronal toxicity than the conventional green tea extract (GTE). We also demonstrated that HTP-GTE administration prevented the development of learned helplessness (LH) in a rat post-menopausal model. Additionally, HTP-GTE improved LH-induced cognitive impairments simultaneously with rescued the long-term synaptic plasticity. This occurred via the restoration of silent synapse formation by increasing the hippocampal BDNF-tyrosine receptor kinase B pathway in the helpless ovariectomized (OVX) rats. Likewise, we also identified that (-)-gallocatechin gallate was the main contributor of the HTP-GTE effect. Our findings suggested that HTP-GTE has a potential as a preventive nutritional supplement to ameliorate cognitive dysfunctions associated with PMD.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antioxidants / pharmacology
  • Catechin / analogs & derivatives*
  • Catechin / metabolism
  • Catechin / pharmacology
  • Cognition Disorders / diet therapy
  • Cognitive Dysfunction / diet therapy*
  • Depression / diet therapy
  • Depression / metabolism
  • Dietary Supplements
  • Female
  • Hippocampus / drug effects
  • Hippocampus / metabolism
  • Plant Extracts / pharmacology
  • Postmenopause / psychology*
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Synapses / drug effects
  • Tea / metabolism

Substances

  • Antioxidants
  • Plant Extracts
  • Tea
  • gallocatechin gallate
  • Catechin