Influence of Alkylamides of Glutamic Acid and Related Compounds on the Central Nervous System. I. Central Depressant Effect of Theanine

Abstract

Theanine (N-ethylglutamine), a flavourous constituent of tea leaves, was studied in respect of the influence on the central nervous system in mice.
Theanine was shown to inhibit the convulsive action of caffeine, but was ineffective against pentetrazole, picrotoxin, strychnine, pipradrol and bemegride as well as L-glutamine. Neither theanine nor L-glutamine effected on the prolongation of the sleeping time after the injection of hexobarbital sodium in mice. Using ¹⁴C-labeled theanine, it was found that the intraperitoneally administered theanine was taken up by brain tissue with out undergoing the metabolic changes in a 30minutes. The intracerebral level of γaminobutyric acid was shown to increase significantly at 30minutes following the intraperitoneal administration of theanine in mice.