• Chih-Chuan Yang, Kuo-Chi Chang, Mao-Hsien Wang, Hsiang-Chien Tseng, Hung-Sheng Soung, Chih-Hsiang Fang, Yi-Wen Lin, Keng-Yuan Li, and Cheng-Chia Tsai.
• Department of Neurosurgery, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, 10449, Taiwan, ROC; Department of Medicine, Mackay Medical College, New Taipei City, 252, Taiwan, ROC.
• J Formos Med Assoc. 2020 Sep 1; 119 (9): 1405-1414.

Background/PurposeSpinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating medical condition for which no effective pharmacological interventions exist. l-Theanine (LT), a major amino acid component of green tea, exhibits potent antioxidative and anti-inflammatory activities and protects against various neural injuries. Here, we evaluated the potential therapeutic effects of LT on the recovery of behavioral motor functions after SCI in rats and the underlying neuroprotective mechanisms.MethodsSCI was induced by applying vascular clips to the dura through a four-level T5-T8 laminectomy, and saline or LT (10/30 mg/kg) was intrathecally administered at 1-, 6-, and 24-h post-SCI. At 72-h post-SCI, half of the rats from each group for each parameter were sacrificed, and their spinal cord was excised for measurement of malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), superoxide dismutase, catalase, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1β/-6, myeloperoxidase, and caspase-3. The remaining rats from each group were subjected to Bresnahan locomotor-rating scale (BBB), inclined-plane, toe-spread, and hindfoot bar-grab tests at 1-, 4-, 7-, 10-, and 14-days post-SCI.ResultsLT treatment reduced NO and MDA levels, increased antioxidative strength, and markedly suppressed the levels of neuroinflammatory and apoptotic markers in the spinal cord after SCI. Moreover, LT treatment drastically promoted the recovery of behavioral motor functions post-SCI.ConclusionOur findings revealed that LT can enhance the recovery of behavioral motor functions after SCI in rats, which related to the suppression of post-traumatic oxidative response, neural inflammation, and apoptosis. This evidence indicates that LT holds considerable potential for use in the clinical treatment/prevention of SCI-induced motor dysfunction.Copyright © 2019 Formosan Medical Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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