Use of Nutritional Supplements Based on L-Theanine and Vitamin B6 in Children with Tourette Syndrome, with Anxiety Disorders: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Background: Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by tics and co-occurring disorders. It has been suggested that anxiety occurs in 2–45% patients affected by Tourette syndrome. Despite dietary and nutritional factors have been found to affect a range of neurological conditions, no more studies have investigated the relationship between nutritional supplements and tics. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of supplementation of both L-Theanine and Vitamin B6 in reducing tics and co-occurring disorders in a sample of youth with chronic tic disorder (CTD) or Tourette syndrome with anxiety symptoms. Design: A open-label trial. Patients affected by Tourette syndrome were randomized to receive nutritional supplements based on L-Theanine and vitamin B6, or psychoeducation (PE). Participants: 34 children (30 boys and 4 girls) aged between 4 and 17 years affected by Tourette syndrome or chronic tic disorder, associated with anxiety symptoms. Results: Patients in both groups showed a reduction in the severity of tic and anxiety symptoms. Supplementation with L-Theanine and vitamin B6 was significantly more effective than psychoeducation in reducing tics and co-occurring disorders, as measured by neuropsychological findings. Conclusions: Supplementation of both L-Theanine and Vitamin B6 may help in the treatment of tic disorders associated with anxious symptoms. Between-group differences in clinician-rated severity did reach statistical significance only for tics. Despite this finding, further placebo-controlled trials are needed.

Tratamento da síndrome de Tourette em pacientes pediátricos e novos ensaios clínicos randomizados: uma revisão integrativa

“…Além disto, mesmo que disponíveis para o tratamento dos tiques na ST, o uso desses antipsicóticos em crianças e adolescentes podem também estar associados a comprometimento cognitivo, ganho de peso, letargia e discinesia tardia (HUANG et al, 2022;JANKOVIC et al, 2021;KAHL et al, 2021;RIZZO et al, 2022).…”

“…Ademais, por se tratar também de um estudo preliminar, com pequeno tamanho de amostra, tais fatores devem ser levados em consideração em estudos futuros (HUANG et al, 2022). avaliou a eficácia que a suplementação de L-teanina, um aminoácido, e a vitamina B6 possuem na redução de tiques em jovens com transtorno do tique crônico ou com ST (RIZZO et al, 2022).…”

“…Além disso, como pode ser administrada através da ingestão da dieta, o seu uso estaria associado a poucos efeitos colaterais. A L-teanina, por sua vez, foi escolhida enquanto agente que possibilita melhorias no humor, cognição e redução de estresse e outros sintomas encontrados em pacientes com ansiedade (RIZZO et al, 2022).…”

“…Foi observado que, apesar dos pacientes de ambos os grupos apresentarem redução da gravidade dos tiques e da ansiedade, as crianças do grupo que recebeu suplementação obteve redução de tiques mais significativa que o grupo que recebeu psicoeducação. Dessa forma, é evidente o papel que a L-teanina e a vitamina B6 possuem no tratamento de transtornos de tiques, mas que são necessários ensaios controlados por placebos maiores para melhor avaliação da intervenção (RIZZO et al, 2022).…”

Why Tic Severity Changes from Then to Now and from Here to There

“…The treatment of tics with the addition of certain foods or supplements has also been attempted, such as probiotics, N-acetyl cysteine, and omega-3 fatty acids, but results have generally not shown significant improvements [ 73 , 74 , 75 ]. One open-label study did show improvement in tics in patients given L-Theanine and Vitamin B6 as compared with a control condition of psychoeducation [ 76 ]. Additionally, an open-label study of magnesium and vitamin B6 showed an improvement in children with TS suffering from clinical exacerbations [ 77 ].…”