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Study Shows Green Tea's Potential Against HIV
Posted on: 11/12/2003
Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), the primary antioxidant polyphenol found in
green tea, may have potential against HIV infection
The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (112, 5:951-7, 2003.
Researchers from the University of Tokyo reported EGCG prevents HIV from
binding to T-helper cells--immune cells that target antigens by secreting
proteins called cytokines to activate T cells and B cells, which then seek out
and destroy the antigen. HIV is known to attack T-helper cells (also known as
CD4 cells), which effectively prevents the immune system from protecting the
body against infection.
To investigate the effects of EGCG on HIV infection, researchers incubated
peripheral blood CD4 T cells with EGCG. The polyphenol was seen to directly bind
to CD4 cells, thereby preventing an HIV envelope protein (called gp120) from
binding to the CD4 receptors. EGCG also prevented the anti-CD4 antibody from
binding to its corresponding antigen, leading researchers to conclude EGCG
modulates binding to CD4, thereby protecting against HIV infection.
Even though gp120 elicits antibodies to HIV, the virus is still able to elude
the human immune system,
Christina L. Nance, M.S.of the Houston-based Texas Children's Hospital, and
William T. Shearer, M.D., Ph.D., of the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston,
who published an accompanying editorial in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical
Immunology (112, 5:851-3, 2003).
HIV infection depends on a sequential interaction between gp120 and
receptors on CD4 cells, according to Nance and Shearer. They added the recent
study showed EGCG prevents the HIV protein from attaching to CD4 molecules and
down-regulates cell surface expression of CD4 by binding itself to the molecule.
Nance and Shearer noted the effects observed in this study would potentially
require developing a "capsular alternative to green tea or EGCG" in order to
attain physiologically relevant EGCG concentrations in the body. "This
provocative investigation raises again the question of using natural products in
the treatments of serious disease," they concluded. "By no means should the
findings of this study ... be seen as an endorsement of the consumption of green
tea (gallons of it, presumably) to counter HIV-1 infection, or, worse, as an
alternative therapy to the wonderful life-restoring antiretroviral agents that
we now have. ... Nevertheless, it is not improbable that green tea or its
extracts will be involved in the future treatment of HIV-1 infection."
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