Investigation of Effects of L-Theanine on PTSD-induced Changes in Rat Neurobehavior

Authors

  • Tomás Eduardo Ceremuga US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing/Northeastern University
  • Michael W. Bentley US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing/Northeastern University
  • Jeremiah Wolfe US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing/Northeastern University
  • Susan Baldwin US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing/Northeastern University
  • Thomas Onstott US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing/Northeastern University
  • Ken Aytes US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing/Northeastern University
  • Bryan Ferrara US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing/Northeastern University
  • Mark Alleyn US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing/Northeastern University
  • Christopher Fortner US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing/Northeastern University
  • George A. Ceremuga Geneva Foundation
  • Gina Padrón Geneva Foundation

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.2015.2.1.91

Keywords:

PTSD, Neurobehavior, Green Tea, L-Theanine

Abstract

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a devastating neuropsychological disorder that may develop in response to traumatic experiences. Symptoms include anxiety, hypervigilance, memory deficits, and depression. We investigated L-Theanine on neurobehavioral effects in a PTSD rodent model. Evaluation of the effects of L-Theanine as a sole agent and in combination with midazolam on neurobehavior was analyzed using the Elevated Plus-Maze, Morris Water Maze, and Forced Swim Test. Statistical analysis consisted of comparison of PTSD symptoms in PTSD vs. non-stressed groups. Data regarding weight gain between the 40 control (non-stressed) and 40 PTSD (stressed) rats were significantly different (p < 0.001), where the control rats gained an average of 55.4 grams compared to 37.4 grams for the PTSD rats over the 10 post stress days. This research did not show statistical significance with single dose administration of L-Theanine or in combination with midazolam. However, the theoretic framework and Post-Traumatic Stress Disease Induction Model were validated based on this research. This study establishes a solid framework for future investigation of PTSD treatments. Future studies of L-Theanine and other herbal therapies may use an extended dosing period to obtain a steady state for the period of time needed to alter neurobiology.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Tomás Eduardo Ceremuga, US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing/Northeastern University

Tomás Eduardo Ceremuga, CRNA, PhD

Professor, US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing, AMEDDC&S; Neuroscience Researcher, Adjunct Staff Researcher, Institute of Surgical Research.

Michael W. Bentley, US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing/Northeastern University

Associate Professor, US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing, AMEDDC&S

Jeremiah Wolfe, US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing/Northeastern University

Graduate Student, US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing, AMEDDC&S

Susan Baldwin, US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing/Northeastern University

Graduate Student, US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing, AMEDDC&S

Thomas Onstott, US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing/Northeastern University

Graduate Student, US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing, AMEDDC&S

Ken Aytes, US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing/Northeastern University

Graduate Student, US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing, AMEDDC&S

Bryan Ferrara, US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing/Northeastern University

Graduate Student, US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing, AMEDDC&S

Mark Alleyn, US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing/Northeastern University

Graduate Student, US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing, AMEDDC&S

Christopher Fortner, US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing/Northeastern University

Graduate Student, US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing, AMEDDC&S

George A. Ceremuga, Geneva Foundation

Medical Student, University of South Dakota

Gina Padrón, Geneva Foundation

Bachelor of Science Degree with a Major in Animal Science

Nursing Student, Wayland Baptist University

References

Ang-Lee, M. K., J. Moss, and C. S. Yuan. 2001. Herbal medicines and perioperative care. Jama 286: 208-216

Brewin, C., J. S. Kleiner, J. J. Vasterling, and A. P. Field. 2007. Memory for emotionally neutral information in posttraumatic stress disorder: A meta-analytic investigation. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 116: 448

Castagne, V., P. Moser, S. Roux, and R. D. Porsolt. 2011. Rodent models of depression: forced swim and tail suspension behavioral despair tests in rats and mice. Curr Protoc Neurosci Chapter 8: Unit 8 10A. doi: 10.1002/0471142301.ns0810as55

Ceremuga, T. E., S. Martinson, J. Washington, R. Revels, J. Wojcicki, D. Crawford, R. Edwards, J. L. Kemper, W. L. Townsend, G. M. Herron, G. A. Ceremuga, G. Padron, and M. Bentley. 2014. Effects of L-theanine on posttraumatic stress disorder induced changes in rat brain gene expression. ScientificWorldJournal 2014: 419032. doi: 10.1155/2014/419032

Charney, D. S., S. J. Mihic, and R. A. Harris. 2001. Chapter 17: Hypnotics and Sedatives. In: Goodman and Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics. J. G. Hardman and L. E. Limbird, Eds. McGraw-Hill, New York. p. 399-427.

Dremencov, E., I. Gispan-Herman, M. Rosenstein, A. Mendelman, D. H. Overstreet, J. Zohar, and G. Yadid. 2004. The serotonin–dopamine interaction is critical for fast-onset action of antidepressant treatment: in vivo studies in an animal model of depression. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry 28: 141-147

Eschenauer, G., and B. V. Sweet. 2006. Pharmacology and therapeutic uses of theanine. Am J Health Syst Pharm 63: 26, 28-30. doi: 10.2146/ajhp050148

Falter, U., A. J. Gower, and J. Gobert. 1992. Resistance of baseline activity in the elevated plus-maze to exogenous influences. Behav Pharmacol 3: 123-128

Frick, K. M., E. T. Stillner, and J. Berger-Sweeney. 2000. Mice are not little rats: species differences in a one-day water maze task. Neuroreport 11: 3461-3465

Garrick, T., N. Morrow, A. Y. Shalev, and S. Eth. 2001. Stress-induced enhancement of auditory startle: an animal model of posttraumatic stress disorder. Psychiatry 64: 346-354

Gelenberg, A. J., and C. L. Chesen. 2000. How fast are antidepressants? J Clin Psychiatry 61: 712-721

Gootzeit, J., and K. Markon. 2011. Factors of PTSD: differential specificity and external correlates. Clin Psychol Rev 31: 993-1003. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2011.06.005

Heese, T., J. Jenkinson, C. Love, R. Milam, L. Perkins, C. Adams, S. McCall, and T. E. Ceremuga. 2009. Anxiolytic effects of L-theanine--a component of green tea--when combined with midazolam, in the male Sprague-Dawley rat. Aana J 77: 445-449

Hung, S. K., and E. Ernst. 2010. Herbal medicine: an overview of the literature from three decades. J Diet Suppl 7: 217-226. doi: 10.3109/19390211.2010.487818

Jankowsi, K. 2010. PTSD and Physical Health. National Center for PTSD.

Juneja, L. R., D.-C. Chu, T. Okubo, Y. Nagato, and H. Yokogoshi. 1999. L-Theanine- a unique amino acid of green tea and its relaxation effect in humans. Trends in Food Science & Technology 10: 199-204

Lister, R. G. 1987. The use of a plus-maze to measure anxiety in the mouse. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 92: 180-185

Lu, K., M. A. Gray, C. Oliver, D. T. Liley, B. J. Harrison, C. F. Bartholomeusz, K. L. Phan, and P. J. Nathan. 2004. The acute effects of L-theanine in comparison with alprazolam on anticipatory anxiety in humans. Hum Psychopharmacol 19: 457-465

Montgomery, K. C. 1955. The relation between fear induced by novel stimulation and exploratory behavior. J Comp Physiol Psychol 48: 254-260

Pellow, S., P. Chopin, S. E. File, and M. Briley. 1985. Validation of open:closed arm entries in an elevated plus-maze as a measure of anxiety in the rat. J Neurosci Methods 14: 149-167

Porsolt, R. D., A. Bertin, and M. Jalfre. 1978. "Behavioural despair" in rats and mice: strain differences and the effects of imipramine. Eur J Pharmacol 51: 291-294

Porsolt, R. D., M. Le Pichon, and M. Jalfre. 1977. Depression: a new animal model sensitive to antidepressant treatments. Nature 266: 730-732

Pulliam, J. V., A. M. Dawaghreh, E. Alema-Mensah, and P. M. Plotsky. 2010. Social defeat stress produces prolonged alterations in acoustic startle and body weight gain in male Long Evans rats. J Psychiatr Res 44: 106-111. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2009.05.005

Roan, S. 2009. L-Theanine comes into focus. Los Angeles Times.

Rosa, V. P., N. Vandresen, A. V. Calixto, D. F. Kovaleski, and M. S. Faria. 2000. Temporal analysis of the rat's behavior in the plus-maze: effect of midazolam. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 67: 177-182

Servatius, R. J., J. E. Ottenweller, and B. H. Natelson. 1995. Delayed startle sensitization distinguishes rats exposed to one or three stress sessions: further evidence toward an animal model of PTSD. Biol Psychiatry 38: 539-546

Shepherd, J. K., S. S. Grewal, A. Fletcher, D. J. Bill, and C. T. Dourish. 1994. Behavioural and pharmacological characterisation of the elevated "zero-maze" as an animal model of anxiety. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 116: 56-64

Shiner, B., R. E. Drake, B. V. Watts, R. A. Desai, and P. P. Schnurr. 2012. Access to VA services for returning veterans with PTSD. Mil Med 177: 814-822

Sugiyama, T., and Y. Sadzuka. 1999. Combination of theanine with doxorubicin inhibits hepatic metastasis of M5076 ovarian sarcoma. Clin Cancer Res 5: 413-416

Taylor, M. J., N. Freemantle, J. R. Geddes, and Z. Bhagwagar. 2006. Early onset of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressant action: systematic review and meta-analysis. Arch Gen Psychiatry 63: 1217-1223

Treit, D., J. Menard, and C. Royan. 1993. Anxiogenic stimuli in the elevated plus-maze. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 44: 463-469

Trullas, R., and P. Skolnick. 1990. Functional antagonists at the NMDA receptor complex exhibit antidepressant actions. Eur J Pharmacol 185: 1-10

Ursano, R. J., L. Zhang, H. Li, L. Johnson, J. Carlton, C. S. Fullerton, and D. M. Benedek. 2009. PTSD and traumatic stress from gene to community and bench to bedside. Brain Res 1293: 2-12

Wenk, G. L. 2004. Assessment of spatial memory using the radial arm maze and Morris water maze. Curr Protoc Neurosci Chapter 8: Unit 8 5A. doi: 10.1002/0471142301.ns0805as26

Yokogoshi, H., M. Mochizuki, and K. Saitoh. 1998. Theanine-induced reduction of brain serotonin concentration in rats. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem 62: 816-817

Yokogoshi, H., and T. Terashima. 2000. Effect of theanine, r-glutamylethylamide, on brain monoamines, striatal dopamine release and some kinds of behavior in rats. Nutrition 16: 776-777

Downloads

Published

01-01-2015

How to Cite

1.
Ceremuga TE, Bentley MW, Wolfe J, Baldwin S, Onstott T, Aytes K, Ferrara B, Alleyn M, Fortner C, Ceremuga GA, Padrón G. Investigation of Effects of L-Theanine on PTSD-induced Changes in Rat Neurobehavior. Plant Sci. Today [Internet]. 2015 Jan. 1 [cited 2024 Nov. 25];2(1):11-20. Available from: https://horizonepublishing.com/journals/index.php/PST/article/view/91

Issue

Section

Research Articles

Most read articles by the same author(s)