Green tea infusion alleviates neurodegeneration induced by mutant Huntingtin in Drosophila.

OBJECTIVES: Green tea infusion contains a complex mixture of polyphenolic compounds that were shown to provide health benefits. It was previously demonstrated that (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate, one of the major polyphenols present in green tea, has a suppressing effect on various aspects of pathogenesis in models of Huntington's disease (HD), an inherited neurodegenerative disorder. In this study, we aimed to investigate, whether green tea infusion prepared as for human consumption has similar positive effects.

METHODS: We used a transgenic Drosophila model of HD to study the effects of green tea on mutant Huntingtin induced phenotypes. We tested the effects of green tea infusion on mutant Huntingtin induced neurodegeneration, impaired motor performance, reduced viability and lifespan by pseudopupil assay, climbing assay, eclosion and survival tests, respectively. We used immunoblots to measure Huntingtin protein levels and tested generic health benefits of green tea by longevity analysis.

RESULTS: We found that green tea supplementation reduced mutant Huntingtin induced neurodegeneration in Drosophila and positively impacted the longevity of mutant Huntingtin expressing flies. However, green tea did not rescue reduced viability of Drosophila expressing mutant Huntingtin or increased longevity of wild-type fruit flies.

DISCUSSION: Our results indicate that green tea consumption might have a modest positive effect on symptoms of HD.