GABA and l-theanine mixture decreases sleep latency and improves NREM sleep

Pharmaceutical Biology

Sung Hee Han¹  Ki-Bae Hong²  Suhyeon Kim³  Kyungae Jo³  Hyung Joo Suh⁴ 

[1] BK21 Plus, College of Health Science, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea;Department of Biological Sciences and Environmental Sciences Program, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL, USA;Department of Integrated Biomedical and Life Sciences, Graduate School, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea;Department of Public Health Sciences, Graduate School, Seoul, Republic of Kore;

关键词: γ-Aminobutyric acid;    insomnia;    pentobarbital-induced sleep test;    electroencephalography;   

DOI  :  10.1080/13880209.2018.1557698

来源: Taylor & Francis

【 摘 要 】

Context: γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter and it is well established that activation of GABAA receptors favours sleep. l-Theanine, a naturally occurring amino acid first discovered in green tea, is a well-known anti-anxiety supplement with proven relaxation benefits.Objective: This study investigated the potential synergistic sleep enhancement effect of GABA/l-theanine mixture.Materials and methods: Pentobarbital-induced sleep test was applied to find proper concentration for sleep-promoting effect in ICR mice. Electroencephalogram (EEG) analysis was performed to investigate total sleeping time and sleep quality in normal SD rats and caffeine-induced awareness model. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was applied to investigate whether the sleep-promoting mechanism of GABA/l-theanine mixture involved transcriptional processes.Results: GABA/l-theanine mixture (100/20 mg/kg) showed a decrease in sleep latency (20.7 and 14.9%) and an increase in sleep duration (87.3 and 26.8%) compared to GABA or theanine alone. GABA/l-theanine mixture led to a significant increase in rapid eye movement (REM) (99.6%) and non-REM (NREM) (20.6%) compared to controls. The use of GABA/l-theanine mixture rather than GABA or l-theanine alone restored to normal levels sleep time and quality in the arousal animal model. The administration of GABA/l-theanine led to increased expression of GABA and the glutamate GluN1 receptor subunit.Conclusions: GABA/l-theanine mixture has a positive synergistic effect on sleep quality and duration as compared to the GABA or l-theanine alone. The increase in GABA receptor and GluN1 expression is attributed to the potential neuromodulatory properties of GABA/l-theanine combination, which seems to affect sleep behaviour.

【 授权许可】

CC BY