Rheumatoid Arthritis :: Green tea compound may be a therapy for people with rheumatoid arthritis

A new study from the University of Michigan Health System suggests that a compound in green tea may provide therapeutic benefits to people with rheumatoid arthritis.

The study, presented April 29 at the Experimental Biology 2007 in Washington, D.C., looks at a potent anti-inflammatory compound derived from green tea. Researchers found that the compound -- called epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) -- inhibited the production of several molecules in the immune system that contribute to inflammation and joint da mage in people with rheumatoid arthritis.

The compound from green tea also was found to suppress the inflammatory products in the connective tissue of people with rheumatoid arthritis.

"Our research is a very promising step in the search for therapies for the joint destruction experienced by people who have rheumatoid arthritis," says Salah-uddin Ahmed, Ph.D., lead researcher on the study. Ahmed, a research investigator with the Division of Rheumatology at the U-M Health System, was selected to present the research at the Experimental Biology meeting as the recipient of the Young Scientist Travel Award, given by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. This study was also selected by the American Society for Nutrition to be featured in a press release.

To conduct the research, the scientists isolated cells called synovial fibroblasts from the joints of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. These fibroblasts -- cells that form a lining of the tissue surrounding the capsule of the joints -- then were cultured in a growth medium and incubated with the green tea compound.

The fibroblasts were then stimulated with pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1ƒÒ, a protein of the immune system known to play an important role in causing joint destruction in people with rheumatoid arthritis.

The researchers looked at whether the green tea compound has the capability to block the activity of two potent molecules, IL-6 and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), which also are actively involved in causing bone erosion in the joints of people with rheumatoid arthritis.

When untreated cells were stimulated with IL-1ƒÒ, a sequence of molecular events occurred that resulted in production of the bone-destructive molecules. But the scientists found that pre-incubation with EGCG was capable of inhibiting the production of these molecules. EGCG also inhibited the production of prostaglandin E2, a hormone-like substance that causes inflammation in the joints.

The cell signaling pathways that regulate levels of these immune system molecules under both normal and rheumatoid arthritis situations are well studied, and the researchers were able to trace the effects of the green tea compound infusion to see that it worked by inhibiting these pathways.

Ahmed says that these studies suggest that EGCG or molecules that could be derived synthetically from the EGCG found in green tea may be of therapeutic value by inhibiting the joint destruction in rheumatoid arthritis.

Previously, Ahmed and other researchers made another promising finding when EGCG-pretreated synovial fibroblasts were stimulated with the cytokine IL-1ƒÒ to study the protective effect of this green tea compound. Compared to untreated synovial fibroblasts, the cells treated with EGCG markedly blocked the ability of IL-1ƒÒ to produce the proteins and enzymes that infiltrate the joints of persons with rheumatoid arthritis and cause cartilage degradation.

The laboratory now is focused on the inhibitory role of EGCG in gene expression. The scientists plan to test EGCG in animal models of rheumatoid arthritis to see if it provides similar therapeutic or preventive effects. Ahmed believes that the outcome of these studies will form a strong foundation for future testing of green tea compound in humans with rheumatoid arthritis.

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Quantum mechanics explains why green tea is good for you

(Nanowerk News) Scientists have used quantum mechanics to work out why green tea is good for you. The health benefits of the brew are all down to a quirk of the quantum world known as tunneling, they say.

Green tea is traditionally associated with good health and long life - benefits linked to chemicals known as catechins, which act as antioxidants. These polyphenolic flavonoid compounds disrupt the damaging chain reaction between free radicals and lipids.

But no one understood how catechins work at micromolar concentrations in the body. Now, Àngels González-Lafont and colleagues at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in Spain have modelled the chemical reaction that allows green tea catechins to zap antioxidants ("Tunneling in Green Tea: Understanding the Antioxidant Activity of Catechol-Containing Compounds. A Variational Transition-State Theory Study").

The reaction involves the catechin losing a hydrogen atom to a reactive free radical. The scientists found that in this process the radical and catechin were bound together tightly, leading to very small energy changes as the reaction proceeds.

The compact structures and narrow energy profile revealed by González-Lafont's calculations allows for a huge tunneling effect in the hydrogen transfer step. Tunneling can help quantum particles overcome otherwise insurmountable energy barriers. It relies on that fact that particles can behave like waves. If this waveform extends to the other side of the energy barrier, there is a significant probability that the particle will pop up on the other side of the barrier, as if it had tunneled through a hillside.

Tunneling makes the hydrogen transfer much faster than the free radical's reaction with the body's vulnerable lipids so the radicals are trapped before they can do harm.

'Tunneling is a ubiquitous phenomenon in nature', González-Lafont told Chemistry World. 'Our finding could also be useful to understand the molecular basis for the antioxidant activity of other compounds,' she said. Joe Vinson, who studies antioxidants at the University of Scranton, Pennsylvania, US, welcomed the findings.

'It's really astounding what this [research] has done for the rest of us,' said Vinson. 'We had a problem understanding how polyphenols work at such low concentrations. This paper gives theoretical credence to a large amount of experimental evidence of polyphenols as in vitro and in vivo antioxidants.'

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Tea 'could cut skin cancer risk'

Drinking just two cups of tea per day could cut the risk of developing skin cancer, a study suggests. The US research compared the tea-drinking habits of 1,400 people with skin cancer and 700 who had not developed the disease. The study, in the European Journal of Cancer Prevention, suggests chemicals in tea could have a protective effect. But British cancer experts warned that the best way to guard against the disease was to protect the skin The study, by a team at Dartmouth Medical School, New Hampshire, looked at 770 adults with basal cell carcinoma and 696 with squamous cell carcinoma. Both are cancers which develop in skin cells. Sunlight is a contributing factor in around 90% of cases. Around 70,000 people in Britain are affected by the cancers each year. All those studied were diagnosed between 1993 and 1995 or 1997 and 2000. Lemon peel The study asked the people with cancer, plus the healthy group - all aged between 25 and 74 - about diet, lifestyle and their consumption of both green and black teas. Both kinds of tea are rich in antioxidants which animal studies have been shown prevent the development of cancer cells. This research found that people who drank tea regularly had a lower risk of either cancer. Those who drank two or more cups a day had a 65% lower risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma. Tea-drinking also appeared to protect against basal cell carcinoma, but to a lesser degree. Adding lemon peel to the tea, a practice more common in the US than the UK, seemed to increase the benefits of the drink, the researchers said. Writing in the journal, the team led by Dr Judy Rees, said: "The constituents of tea have been investigated for their activity against a variety of diseases and cancers. "But the most potent appear to be polyphenols [antioxidants]." The team said further research into the protective effects of tea could lead to a better understanding of how cancer develops. But Dr Alison Ross, science information officer at Cancer Research UK, said: "Although these results sound interesting they do not provide firm evidence that drinking tea offers protection against non-melanoma skin cancer. "Our advice is to spend some time in the shade between 11am and 3pm, to make sure you never burn, to cover up with a hat, t-shirt and sunglasses, to take extra care with children and to use a factor 15+ sunscreen."

Green Tea Could Make Skin Look Younger

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Tea is often found to be good for you in scientific research.  It has most often been reasoned that the reason for the health benefits such as decreased incidence of heart disease, peripheral vascular disease and stomach ulcers were do to the high level of powerful antioxidants found in each cup.  A new study offers a powerful additional mechanism of health - tea as a probiotics.

The body is constantly exposed to two types of bacteria.  So called "good bacteria"  that live in and on us every day and help keep us healthy by breaking down food and flourishing robustly to crowd out the "bad" or infectious bacteria that cause diseases (salmanolla, e. coli, h. pylori...).  Certain foods (and now drinks) change the amount of these good bacteria in us.  If we eat or drink something that lowers the good bacteria the bad can flourish and recent evidence shows this can even lead to heart disease!  A new scientific study shows that tea preferentially kills bad bacteria but leaves good bacteria unharmed.  Another reason to drink it at least 3 times per day.  For more info on tea and health always visit www.tempesttea.com

20/12/2006 - Polyphenols in tea may preferentially suppress the growth of pathogenic bacteria in the gut, but not the growth of 'friendly' bacteria, says a new study from Singapore.

"It is generally believed that possible beneficial health effects of tea polyphenols are due to their anti-oxidant activity," wrote lead author Hui Cheng Lee from the National University of Singapore.

"Evidence from our study indicates that phenolics are likely to benefit the host by inhibiting pathogen growth and regulating commensal bacteria, including probiotics, and could therefore be considers as prebiotics."

The health benefits of tea ranging from a lower risk of certain cancers to weight loss, and protection against Alzheimer's, have been linked to the polyphenol content of the tea. Green tea contains between 30 and 40 per cent of water-extractable polyphenols, while black tea (green tea that has been oxidized by fermentation) contains between 3 and 10 per cent. Oolong tea is semi-fermented tea and is somewhere between green and black tea.

The four primary polyphenols found in fresh tealeaves are epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), epigallocatechin, epicatechin gallate, and epicatechin.

The new study, published in the Elsevier journal Research in Microbiology, looked at the effects of 31 different phenolics extracted from Yunnan Chinese tea on the growth of 28 different bacteria, including pathogenic, commensal (normal), and probiotics found in the intestine. These included strains of the aerobic pathogens E. coli, Salmonella, and Listeria, and probiotic Lactobacillus strains, and strains of the anaerobic pathogens Bacteroides and Clostridium, and probiotic Bifidobacterium strains.

Cells were cultured in the presence of 0.1 per cent polyphenols at 37 degrees Celsius for 24 hours.

"Our data demonstrate that phenolic compounds have general inhibitory effects on intestinal bacteria. The level of inhibition varies depending on the bacterial species and chemical structure of the compound," wrote Lee.

Indeed, growth of the pathogenic E. coli and Salmonella typhimurium were most strongly inhibited by the tea polyphenols and their metabolites, as were strains belonging to the Bacteroides and Clostridium genera.

However, the researchers report that the growth of the probiotic Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus strains were less affected by the tea compounds.

"Since probiotic growth was relatively unaffected by most of the aromatic compounds tested, probiotic colonization in the intestine should continue in the presence of phenolics so as to improve the intestinal microbial balance and inhibit pathogen growth," said the researchers.

Green Tea Gives Healthy Glow

The skin-healing properties of green tea may help scientists develop new treatments for skin disease and wounds, say researchers at the Medical College of Georgia.

Green tea contains compounds called polyphenols, which help eliminate free radicals. These free radicals can cause cancer by altering DNA. Polyphenols also protect healthy cells while promoting the death of cancer cells.

Cell biologist Dr. Stephen Hsu recently began studying the most abundant green tea polyphenol, called EGCG, and its effect on skin cells. Hsu and his colleagues compared the growth of normal skin cells to those exposed to EGCG.

They found the EGCG reactivated dying skin cells.

"Cells that migrate toward the surface of the skin normally live about 28 days, and by day 20 they basically sit on the upper layer of the skin getting ready to die. But EGCG reactivates them. I was so surprised," Hsu says in a news release.

He and his colleagues also found other ways that EGCG benefits skin cells.The findings indicate that EGCG may offer potential benefits for skin conditions including psoriasis, rosacea, wrinkles and wounds.

-Robert Preidt

www.tempesttea.com

White Tea Extract Reveals Anti-Cancer/Aging Properties

CLEVELAND - Scientists at University Hospitals of Cleveland and Case Western Reserve University have proven that ingredients in white tea are effective in boosting the immune function of skin cells and protecting them against the damaging effects of the sun. The discovery that white tea extract protects the skin from oxidative stress and immune cell damage adds another important element in the battle against skin cancer.

Elma Baron, MD, is Director of the Skin Study Center at UHC and CWRU. "We found the application of white tea extract protects critical elements of the skin's immune system, " Dr. Baron says. "Similar to the way oxidation causes a car to rust, oxidative stress of the skin causes a breakdown in cellular strength and function. The white tea extract protects against this stress. This study further demonstrates the importance of researching how plant products can actually protect the skin." Dr. Baron worked with Seth Stevens, MD, principal investigator for the study.

As part of the study, scientists applied a white tea extract cream to one patch of skin on the subject's buttock (skin that is not ordinarily exposed to much sunlight), while another area was left unprotected. Both areas were then exposed to artificial sunlight. Researchers then reapplied the white tea extract to the area previously coated. Three days later the scientists compared the patches of skin on a cellular level.

Here's what they looked for: In the immune system, the Langerhans cells in the outer layer of the skin (epidermis) are the outermost reach of the immune system, and are the first to recognize foreign agents. They are the sentinel cells or watchdog cells, essential in detecting germs and mutated proteins produced by cancerous cells; but, because of their location, the Langerhans cells are very sensitive to damage by sunlight. Scientists in the study found the white tea extract protected against the Langerhans cell obliteration that was observed in the sun-exposed skin not treated with the extract. The investigators then tested whether the preserved immune system cells in the white tea extract-protected skin would still function properly after exposure to sunlight; they discovered the immune function was indeed restored by the extract. They also found that the DNA damage that can occur in cells after exposure to sunlight was limited in the skin cells protected by the white tea extract.

Researchers believe that white tea extract's anti-oxidant properties are the reason the extract was effective; if so, it also suggests that the agent may provide anti-aging benefits. The same process of oxidative stress in skin cells that leads to immune system damage can also promote skin cancer and photo damage, such as wrinkling or mottled pigmentation.

Kevin Cooper, MD, is chairman of the department of dermatology at UHC and CWRU. "We know that younger skin tends to be able to resist the oxidative stress associated with exposure to the destructive rays of sunlight. The white tea extract also appears to build the skin's resistance against stresses that cause the skin to age."

The results offer promise in the battle against skin cancer, the most common form of cancer in the United States with more than one million new cases diagnosed every year.

The Skin Study Center at UHC and CWRU has studied the benefits of another form of tea that has protective effects. Researchers found that ingredients in green tea decreased the direct effects of sunburn. This newest study is the first of its kind involving white tea. White and green teas contain the highest amounts of antioxidants of all tea varieties, but white tea is actually the least processed form of tea and is rarely used in consumer products.

-January 27, 2003

Buy White tea today:
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Drinking Black Tea May Soothe Stress

Old-Fashioned Black Tea May Help People Recover From Everyday Stress

By Jennifer Warner
WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Louise Chang, MD
on Thursday, October 05, 2006

Oct. 5, 2006 -- Forget the fancy tea fads; new research suggests drinking plain old-fashioned black tea may fight stress and promote relaxation.

Researchers in tea-loving London found people who drank black tea were able to de-stress more quickly than those who drank a fake tea substitute. In addition, tea drinkers had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol after exposure to stress.

"Our study suggests that drinking black tea may speed up our recovery from the daily stresses in life. Although it does not appear to reduce the actual levels of stress we experience, tea does seem to have a greater effect in bringing stress hormone levels back to normal," says researcher Andrew Steptoe, of the University College London, in a news release. "This has important health implications, because slow recovery following acute stress has been associated with a greater risk of chronic illnesses such as coronary heart diseaseheart disease."

Black Tea Fights Stress

In the study, 75 young healthy male tea drinkers (average age 33) gave up their normal tea, coffee, and caffeinated beverages and were divided into two groups. For six weeks, one group drank a fruit-flavored caffeinated black tea mixture containing the active ingredients of a cup of tea, and the other drank an identical-tasting mixture containing the same amount of caffeine but without any other active tea ingredients.

Both groups were then subjected to challenging tasks designed to mimic everyday stresses, like the threat of unemployment or an accusation, while their stress hormone, blood pressure, heart rate, and self-reported levels of stress were monitored.

The tasks provoked sharp increases in blood pressure, heart rate, and subjective stress ratings in both groups. But 50 minutes after the stressful situation, levels of the stress hormone cortisol had dropped lower among black tea drinkers compared with the fake tea group. There was also an increase in subjective relaxation during the time after the stressful situation in the tea mixture drinkers compared with the fake tea group.

In addition, researchers also found that blood platelet activation was lower among black tea drinkers. Men who drank black tea also reported feeling more relaxed after the task than the other group. Platelet activation is involved in the formation of a blood clot, which increases risk of heart attackheart attack.

New Evidence for Old Remedy

"Drinking tea has traditionally been associated with stress relief, and many people believe that drinking tea helps them relax after facing the stresses of everyday life," says Steptoe. "However, scientific evidence for the relaxing properties of tea is quite limited."

In this study, the participants did not know who was drinking real or fake tea. Researchers say that means any differences were due to the active ingredients in the tea and not to the relaxing ritual of drinking it or its taste.

Steptoe says they don't know exactly which ingredients in black tea were responsible for these effects on stress recovery and relaxation. But tea is rich in many candidates, such as catechins, polyphenols, flavonoids, and amino acids, which are under investigation for a variety of healthy benefits.

Their results appear in the journal Psychopharmacology

Oct. 28, 2006, 1:29PM
Green tea shows promise in HIV fight
Part of drink blocks access to immune system's cells, study finds

By LEIGH HOPPER
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

Chalk up another one for green tea.

In test-tube experiments, a component of the ubiquitous health beverage blocks the ability of the AIDS virus to hijack and destroy immune-system cells, scientists from Houston and the United Kingdom say.

Green tea's benefits stem from a substance called epigallocatechin gallate, or EGCG. EGCG is a flavonoid, a compound that gives green tea its color, and has anti-cancer, anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties. EGCG-based cancer drugs already are in clinical trials.

It also holds some promise in fighting HIV — though nobody's recommending it yet for AIDS prevention or treatment.

Understanding why
For at least a decade, researchers have known the EGCG molecule inhibits the progression of HIV in lab experiments — but they didn't understand precisely why.

Now, work by Baylor College of Medicine and University of Sheffield, UK, scientists shows how the EGCG molecule binds to the exact spot HIV needs to infect a healthy T-cell, a type of white blood cell critical to fighting infections. Their report is online in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Under normal circumstances, HIV does its dirty work via an "envelope" or surface protein called gp120, which locks into a special "pocket" on the surface of susceptible host cells called CD4 T-cells. After that fusion, HIV releases its genetic material into the healthy cell. The infected cell then begins churning out the next generation of viruses.

But not if the green tea-derived molecule plugs up that pocket, leaving HIV no way to get inside.

Baylor pediatrics instructor Dr. Christina Nance, research supervisor for allergy and immunology at Texas Children's Hospital, said she and her colleagues used a fairly new approach involving nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. That method allowed them to "see" structures by which EGCG, gp120 and CD4 molecules bind together. Participating in the research were Dr. Theron McCormick and Dr. William Shearer from Baylor, and Mike Williamson of the University of Sheffield.

Using spectroscopy, Nance and her colleagues observed the frequencies emitted by the hydrogen, carbon and nitrogen atoms that make up the molecules they are studying. They paired the CD4 molecule with the HIV surface protein gp120, then paired the CD4 molecule with green tea's EGCG.

Frequency data fed into a computer produced a molecular model showing EGCG and HIV shared the same "binding pocket" on the CD4 T-cell.

"One of the promising factors is, that because this is a small molecule and binds to the same exact binding pocket as (HIV's) gp120, it may not inhibit the (normal) function of the CD4 molecule," Nance said.

Like two cups a day
Nance found the amount of EGCG needed to inhibit HIV progression in the laboratory was the equivalent of the amount achieved by drinking two cups of green tea.

Much more research is needed to move Nance's observation toward drug development.

In the meantime, Nance doesn't recommend that people chug large quantities of green tea in hopes of preventing infection with HIV.

"It would be part of a cocktail of drugs," Nance said. Current HIV treatment consists of multiple drugs, or "cocktails" that block different parts of the virus's life cycle.