impact of acute phase epigallocatechin-3-gallate supplementation on consciousness and s100b serum levels in tbi patients: a double blind randomized clinical trial

Background and aim: traumatic brain injury is one of the leading causes of mortality and disability in young adults. epigallocatechin-3-gallate, the antioxidant compound of green tea, has been proposed to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. this study evaluates the potential effects of epigallocatechin-3-gallate on the early clinical outcome and serum s100b levels (biomarker for brain tissue damage severity) in patients with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury. methods and materials/patients: thirty patients with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury admitted to the intensive care unit were enrolled. the patients were randomly allocated to treatment with either a daily oral dose of 400 mg epigallocatechin-3-gallate or placebo (distilled water) for seven days. the main outcome measures were duration of mechanical ventilation and icu stay, glasgow coma scale, and s100b protein level. results: the results revealed a significant improvement in consciousness level after seven days in the epigallocatechin-3-gallate group (2.93±3.9 unit improvement in gcs versus 0.14±3.05 reduction in gcs, p-value:0.033). there was also a significantly shorter duration of mechanical ventilation in the epigallocatechin-3-gallate compared to the control group (5.1 days versus 9.8 days, p-value:0.02). reduction of the serum s100b level was slightly higher in the epigallocatechin-3-gallate group (23.96 versus 18.6 pg/ml) but the difference was not statistically significant. conclusion: epigallocatechin-3-gallate supplementation had beneficial effects on consciousness level of the patients with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury in the acute phase.