Green tea supplementation in rats of different ages mitigates ethanol-induced changes in brain antioxidant abilities.

Oxidative stress induced by chronic ethanol consumption, particularly in aging subjects, has been implicated in the pathophysiology of many neurodegenerative diseases. Antioxidants with polyphenol structures, such as those contained in green tea, given alone for 5 weeks in liquid Lieber de Carli diet followed by administration with ethanol for 4 weeks with ethanol have been investigated as potential therapeutic antioxidant agents in the brain in rats of three ages (2, 12, and 24 months). Ethanol consumption caused age-dependent decreases in brain superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, and catalase activities.

[The action of oxidative stress induced by ethanol on the central nervous system (CNS)].

The brain is an organ which metabolically consumes about 20% of the total oxygen received by the organism. This causes the generation of free radicals, especially in the presence of some xenobiotics, such as ethanol. In order to prevent free radical-induced cellular damage, the organism developed a defense mechanism, the antioxidative system.