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.

Traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of death and disability in young adults. Green tea Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) supplementation favorably influenced many of the processes mention in the secondary insult of brain injury, including neuroinflammation and anti-oxidative damages in animal studies. In current study, we aimed to investigate the effect of EGCG on outcomes of traumatic brain injury. Materials and Methods: In a clinical trial, 30 patients with head trauma hospitalized in the intensive care unit of Sina hospital, Tehran, Iran were randomly divided into two groups. These groups included 15 patients who received a single daily oral dose of EGCG (400 mg) for 7 days and control group of 15 patients received placebo (distilled water) for the same period. Protein level S100 B and GCS were investigated between the two groups. Results: EGCG increased Glasgow coma score scale. However EGCG had no significant effect on the level of protein S100B. Conclusion: EGCG may play a neuroprotective effect in trumatic brain insulats.