Neuroprotective effects of tea bioactives in Parkinson's disease: proof-of-concept.

Background And Aim: () is a traditional medicinal plant from Central America and its tea, obtained by infusion, has been recognized as a functional food. The aim of this work was to investigate the effects of dry tea containing biocompounds from tea on motor and emotional behavior, as well as tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression in 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-lesioned rats.

Experimental Procedure: Bioactives were identified by Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) and an study in male Wistar rats was run as proof of concept of neuroprotective effects of DTTS.

Technological prospection: patents mapping involving compounds for the treatment of L-DOPA-induced dyskinesias.

: Parkinson's disease (PD), is a disorder debilitant characterized by the reduction of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons within the midbrain, specifically in the substantia nigra pars compacta, which results for the dopamine (DA) depletion in the striatum. Dopamine replacement therapies with the 3,4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine (Levodopa or L-DOPA) represent the most common strategy to treat PD. However, chronic administration of L-DOPA results in abnormal involuntary movement (AIMs).