Effect of green tea on reward learning in healthy individuals: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study

Nutrition Journal

Kelai Wang¹  Xinhai Cui¹  Wentong Zhang¹  Aiwu Li¹  Jian Wang¹  Hongchao Yang¹  Qiangye Zhang¹ 

[1] Department of Pediatric Surgery, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, 107 Wenhuaxi Road, Jinan, Shandong 250012, China

关键词: Anhedonia;    Reward learning;    Depression;    Green tea;   

Others  :  806502
DOI  :  10.1186/1475-2891-12-84

 received in 2013-01-28, accepted in 2013-05-31,  发布年份 2013

【 摘 要 】

Background

Both clinical and preclinical studies revealed that regular intake of green tea reduced the prevalence of depressive symptoms, as well as produced antidepressant-like effects in rodents. Evidence proposed that disturbed reward learning has been associated with the development of anhedonia, a core symptom of depression. However, the relationship between green tea and reward learning is poorly investigated. Our goal was to test whether chronic treatment with green tea in healthy subjects affects the process of reward learning and subsequently regulates the depressive symptoms.

Methods

Seventy-four healthy subjects participated in a double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled study with oral administration of green tea or placebo for 5weeks. We used the monetary incentive delay task to evaluate the reward learning by measurement of the response to reward trial or no-reward trial. We compared the reaction time of reward responsiveness between green tea and placebo treatment. Furthermore, we selected Montgomery-Asberg depression rating scale (MADRS) and 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD-17) to estimate the depressive symptoms in these two groups.

Results

The results showed chronic treatment of green tea increased reward learning compared with placebo by decreasing the reaction time in monetary incentive delay task. Moreover, participants treated with green tea showed reduced scores measured in MADRS and HRSD-17 compared with participants treated with placebo.

Conclusions

Our findings reveal that chronic green tea increased the reward learning and prevented the depressive symptoms. These results also raised the possibility that supplementary administration of green tea might reverse the development of depression through normalization of the reward function.

【 授权许可】

   
2013 Zhang et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Figure 3.

【 参考文献 】

• [1]Kimura K, Ozeki M, Juneja LR, Ohira H: L-Theanine reduces psychological and physiological stress responses. Biol Psychol 2007, 74(1):39-45.
• [2]Lambert JD, Sang S, Hong J, Yang CS: Anticancer and anti-inflammatory effects of cysteine metabolites of the green tea polyphenol, (−)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate. J Agric Food Chem 2010, 58(18):10016-10019.
• [3]Frei B, Higdon JV: Antioxidant activity of tea polyphenols in vivo: evidence from animal studies. J Nutr 2003, 133(10):3275S-3284S.
• [4]Mitrica R, Dumitru I, Ruta LL, Ofiteru AM, Farcasanu IC: The dual action of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), the main constituent of green tea, against the deleterious effects of visible light and singlet oxygen-generating conditions as seen in yeast cells. Molecules 2012, 17(9):10355-10369.
• [5]Niu K, Hozawa A, Kuriyama S, Ebihara S, Guo H, Nakaya N, Ohmori-Matsuda K, Takahashi H, Masamune Y, Asada M, et al.: Green tea consumption is associated with depressive symptoms in the elderly. Am J Clin Nutr 2009, 90(6):1615-1622.
• [6]Zhu WL, Shi HS, Wei YM, Wang SJ, Sun CY, Ding ZB, Lu L: Green tea polyphenols produce antidepressant-like effects in adult mice. Pharmacol Res 2012, 65(1):74-80.
• [7]Clark DA, Beck AT, Beck JS: Symptom differences in major depression, dysthymia, panic disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder. Am J Psychiatry 1994, 151(2):205-209.
• [8]Spijker J, Bijl RV, de Graaf R, Nolen WA: Determinants of poor 1-year outcome of DSM-III-R major depression in the general population: results of the Netherlands mental health survey and incidence study (NEMESIS). Acta Psychiatr Scand 2001, 103(2):122-130.
• [9]Vrieze E, Pizzagalli DA, Demyttenaere K, Hompes T, Sienaert P, de Boer P, Schmidt M, Claes S: Reduced reward learning predicts outcome in major depressive disorder. Biol Psychiatry 2013, 73(7):639-645.
• [10]Domschke K, Dannlowski U, Ohrmann P, Lawford B, Bauer J, Kugel H, Heindel W, Young R, Morris P, Arolt V, et al.: Cannabinoid receptor 1 (CNR1) gene: impact on antidepressant treatment response and emotion processing in major depression. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 2008, 18(10):751-759.
• [11]Davidson RJ: Affective neuroscience and psychophysiology: toward a synthesis. Psychophysiology 2003, 40(5):655-665.
• [12]Treadway MT, Zald DH: Reconsidering anhedonia in depression: lessons from translational neuroscience. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2011, 35(3):537-555.
• [13]Hasler G, Fromm S, Carlson PJ, Luckenbaugh DA, Waldeck T, Geraci M, Roiser JP, Neumeister A, Meyers N, Charney DS, et al.: Neural response to catecholamine depletion in unmedicated subjects with major depressive disorder in remission and healthy subjects. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2008, 65(5):521-531.
• [14]Knutson B, Adams CM, Fong GW, Hommer D: Anticipation of increasing monetary reward selectively recruits nucleus accumbens. J Neurosci 2001, 21(16):RC159.
• [15]Tohen M, McDonnell DP, Case M, Kanba S, Ha K, Fang YR, Katagiri H, Gomez JC: Randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of olanzapine in patients with bipolar I depression. Br J Psychiatry 2012, 201(5):376-382.
• [16]Henigsberg N, Mahableshwarkar AR, Jacobsen P, Chen Y, Thase ME: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled 8-week trial of the efficacy and tolerability of multiple doses of Lu AA21004 in adults with major depressive disorder. J Clin Psychiatry 2012, 73(7):953-959.
• [17]Bruneton J: Pharmacognosy, phytochemistry, medicinal plants. 2nd edition. Paris: Lavoisier Publ; 1999.
• [18]Lopez-Garcia E, van Dam RM, Li TY, Rodriguez-Artalejo F, Hu FB: The relationship of coffee consumption with mortality. Ann Intern Med 2008, 148(12):904-914.
• [19]Mostofsky E, Rice MS, Levitan EB, Mittleman MA: Habitual coffee consumption and risk of heart failure: a dose–response meta-analysis. Circ Heart Fail 2012, 5(4):401-405.
• [20]van Hell HH, Jager G, Bossong MG, Brouwer A, Jansma JM, Zuurman L, van Gerven J, Kahn RS, Ramsey NF: Involvement of the endocannabinoid system in reward processing in the human brain. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2012, 219(4):981-990.
• [21]Nestler EJ, Carlezon WA Jr: The mesolimbic dopamine reward circuit in depression. Biol Psychiatry 2006, 59(12):1151-1159.
• [22]Roitman MF, Wheeler RA, Wightman RM, Carelli RM: Real-time chemical responses in the nucleus accumbens differentiate rewarding and aversive stimuli. Nat Neurosci 2008, 11(12):1376-1377.
• [23]Bjork JM, Hommer DW: Anticipating instrumentally obtained and passively-received rewards: a factorial fMRI investigation. Behav Brain Res 2007, 177(1):165-170.
• [24]Knutson B, Cooper JC: Functional magnetic resonance imaging of reward prediction. Curr Opin Neurol 2005, 18(4):411-417.
• [25]Singal A, Tirkey N, Chopra K: Reversal of LPS-induced immobility in mice by green tea polyphenols: possible COX-2 mechanism. Phytother Res 2004, 18(9):723-728.
• [26]Young AH, Gallagher P, Watson S, Del-Estal D, Owen BM, Ferrier IN: Improvements in neurocognitive function and mood following adjunctive treatment with mifepristone (RU-486) in bipolar disorder. Neuropsychopharmacology 2004, 29(8):1538-1545.
• [27]Mayer JL, Klumpers L, Maslam S, de Kloet ER, Joels M, Lucassen PJ: Brief treatment with the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist mifepristone normalises the corticosterone-induced reduction of adult hippocampal neurogenesis. J Neuroendocrinol 2006, 18(8):629-631.
• [28]Sattayasai J, Tiamkao S, Puapairoj P: Biphasic effects of morus alba leaves green tea extract on mice in chronic forced swimming model. Phytother Res 2008, 22(4):487-492.
• [29]Pham NM, Nanri A, Kurotani K, Kuwahara K, Kume A, Sato M, Hayabuchi H, Mizoue T: Green tea and coffee consumption is inversely associated with depressive symptoms in a Japanese working population. Public Health Nutr 2013, 1-9. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Green+tea+and+coffee+consumpt ion+is+inversely+associated+with+depressive+symptoms+in+a+Japanese+workin g+population webcite
• [30]Feighner JP, Robins E, Guze SB, Woodruff RA Jr, Winokur G, Munoz R: Diagnostic criteria for use in psychiatric research. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1972, 26(1):57-63.
• [31]American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (Revised 4th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing; 2000.
• [32]World Health Organization: The ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioral Diseases. Geneva: WHO; 1992.
• [33]Wise R: The dopamine synapse and the notion of "pleasure centers" in the brain. Trends Neurosci 1980, 3:5.
• [34]Willner P: Dopamine and depression: a review of recent evidence. I. Empir studies. Brain Res 1983, 287(3):211-224.
• [35]Willner P: Dopamine and depression: a review of recent evidence. II. Theor approaches. Brain Res 1983, 287(3):225-236.
• [36]Willner P: Dopamine and depression: a review of recent evidence. III. The eff of antidepressant treat. Brain Res 1983, 287(3):237-246.
• [37]Dunlop BW, Nemeroff CB: The role of dopamine in the pathophysiology of depression. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2007, 64(3):327-337.
• [38]McCabe C, Mishor Z, Cowen PJ, Harmer CJ: Diminished neural processing of aversive and rewarding stimuli during selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor treatment. Biol Psychiatry 2010, 67(5):439-445.
• [39]Price J, Cole V, Goodwin GM: Emotional side-effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors: qualitative study. Br J Psychiatry 2009, 195(3):211-217.
• [40]Park KS, Eun JS, Kim HC, Moon DC, Hong JT, Oh KW: Epigallocatethin-3-O-gallate counteracts caffeine-induced hyperactivity: evidence of dopaminergic blockade. Behav Pharmacol 2010, 21(5–6):572-575.
• [41]Tai KK, Truong DD: Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a green tea polyphenol, reduces dichlorodiphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT)-induced cell death in dopaminergic SHSY-5Y cells. Neurosci Lett 2010, 482(3):183-187.
• [42]Rezai-Zadeh K, Shytle D, Sun N, Mori T, Hou H, Jeanniton D, Ehrhart J, Townsend K, Zeng J, Morgan D, et al.: Green tea epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) modulates amyloid precursor protein cleavage and reduces cerebral amyloidosis in Alzheimer transgenic mice. J Neurosci 2005, 25(38):8807-8814.
• [43]Chen WQ, Zhao XL, Wang DL, Li ST, Hou Y, Hong Y, Cheng YY: Effects of epigallocatechin-3-gallate on behavioral impairments induced by psychological stress in rats. Exp Biol Med (Maywood) 2010, 235(5):577-583.
• [44]Javaid A, Bonkovsky HL: Hepatotoxicity due to extracts of Chinese green tea (Camellia sinensis): a growing concern. J Hepatol 2006, 45(2):334-335. author reply 335–336
• [45]Molinari M, Watt KD, Kruszyna T, Nelson R, Walsh M, Huang WY, Nashan B, Peltekian K: Acute liver failure induced by green tea extracts: case report and review of the literature. Liver Transpl 2006, 12(12):1892-1895.
• [46]Federico A, Tiso A, Loguercio C: A case of hepatotoxicity caused by green tea. Free Radic Biol Med 2007, 43(3):474.
• [47]Renouf M, Guy P, Marmet C, Longet K, Fraering AL, Moulin J, Barron D, Dionisi F, Cavin C, Steiling H, et al.: Plasma appearance and correlation between coffee and green tea metabolites in human subjects. Br J Nutr 2010, 104(11):1635-1640.
• [48]Schmidt M, Schmitz HJ, Baumgart A, Guedon D, Netsch MI, Kreuter MH, Schmidlin CB, Schrenk D: Toxicity of green tea extracts and their constituents in rat hepatocytes in primary culture. Food Chem Toxicol 2005, 43(2):307-314.
• [49]Sakamoto Y, Mikuriya H, Tayama K, Takahashi H, Nagasawa A, Yano N, Yuzawa K, Ogata A, Aoki N: Goitrogenic effects of green tea extract catechins by dietary administration in rats. Arch Toxicol 2001, 75(10):591-596.