Anti-stress effect of theanine on students during pharmacy practice: Positive correlation among salivary α-amylase activity, trait anxiety and subjective stress

Purpose: Theanine, an amino acid in tea, has significant anti-stress effect on experimental animals under psychosocial stress. Anti-stress effect of theanine on humans was evaluated in 5th-year university students during pharmacy practice. Method: The study design was a single-blind group comparison and participants (n = 20) were randomly assigned to theanine or placebo groups. Theanine or placebo (lactose) tablets (200 mg, twice a day, after breakfast and lunch) were taken from 1 week prior to the pharmacy practice and continued for 10 days in the practice period. To assess the anxiety of the participants, the state-trait anxiety inventory test was carried out before the pharmacy practice. Salivary alpha-amylase activity (sAA) was measured as a marker of sympathetic nervous system activity. Results: In the placebo-group, sAA in the morning (pre-practice sAA) was higher than in theanine-group during the pharmacy practice (p = 0.032). Subjective stress was significantly lower in the theanine-group than in the placebo-group (p = 0.020). These results suggest that theanine intake had anti-stress effect on students. Furthermore, students with higher pre-practice sAA showed significantly higher trait anxiety in both groups (p = 0.015). Similarly, higher pre-practice sAA was correlated to shorter sleeping time in both groups (p = 0.41 x 10(-3)). Conclusion: Stressful condition increased the level of sAA that was essentially affected by individual trait anxiety. The low levels of pre-practice sAA and subjective stress in the theanine-group suggest that theanine intake suppressed initial stress response of students assigned for a long-term commitment of pharmacy practice. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.