Neuroprotective Effects and Mechanisms of Tea Bioactive Components in Neurodegenerative Diseases.

As the population ages, neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease (PD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) impose a heavy burden on society and families. The pathogeneses of PD and AD are complex. There are no radical cures for the diseases, and existing therapeutic agents for PD and AD have diverse side effects. Tea contains many bioactive components such as polyphenols, theanine, caffeine, and theaflavins. Some investigations of epidemiology have demonstrated that drinking tea can decrease the risk of PD and AD. Tea polyphenols can lower the morbidity of PD and AD by reducing oxidative stress and regulating signaling pathways and metal chelation. Theanine can inhibit the glutamate receptors and regulate the extracellular concentration of glutamine, presenting neuroprotective effects. Additionally, the neuroprotective mechanisms of caffeine and theaflavins may contribute to the ability to antagonize the adenosine receptor A2AR and the antioxidant properties, respectively. Thus, tea bioactive components might be useful for neuronal degeneration treatment in the future. In the present paper, the neuro protection and the mechanisms of tea and its bioactive components are reviewed. Moreover, the potential challenges and future work are also discussed.

Formation mechanism of the oolong tea characteristic aroma during bruising and withering treatment.

To elucidate formation mechanism of oolong tea aroma, the released and remaining volatiles during bruising and withering treatment were analyzed using head space solid-phase microextraction/gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. An increase in proportion of the released terpenoid volatiles (TVs) along with a decrease in proportion of the released C6 green leaf volatiles (GLVs) was observed in both cultivars 'Zhejiang139' and 'Foshou'. Proportion of remaining TVs also fluctuated reversely with GLVs although the level of these volatiles increased remarkably. High ratio of TVs to GLVs was the key chemical foundation of oolong tea characteristic aroma and could be regarded as a good indicator in screening cultivar for suitably producing high quality oolong tea. Combining with transcriptome analysis, increased TVs and GLVs during the treatment might be largely generated through de novo synthesis and modulated at transcript level through up-regulation of genes involved in terpenoids metabolism and enzymatic cleavage of long-chain fatty acids.

Different Catabolism Pathways Triggered by Various Methylxanthines in Caffeine-Tolerant Bacterium Pseudomonas putida CT25 Isolated from Tea Garden Soil.

The degradation efficiency and catabolism pathways of the different methylxanthines (MXs) in isolated caffeine-tolerant strain Pseudomonas putida CT25 were comprehensively studied. The results showed that the degradation efficiency of various MXs varied with the number and position of the methyl groups on the molecule (i.e., xanthine > 7-methylxanthine ≈ theobromine > caffeine > theophylline > 1-methylxanthine). Multiple MX catabolism pathways coexisted in strain CT25, and a different pathway would be triggered by various MXs. Demethylation dominated in the degradation of N-7-methylated MXs (such as 7-methylxanthine, theobromine, and caffeine), where C-8 oxidation was the major pathway in the catabolism of 1-methylxanthine, whereas demethylation and C-8 oxidation are likely both involved in the degradation of theophylline. Enzymes responsible for MX degradation were located inside the cell. Both cell culture and cell-free enzyme assays revealed that N-1 demethylation might be a rate-limiting step for the catabolism of the MXs. Surprisingly, accumulation of uric acid was observed in a cell-free reaction system, which might be attributed to the lack of activity of uricase, a cytochrome c-coupled membrane integral enzyme.