Green Tea - EGCG

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EGCG inhibits liver damage caused by chemicals and inflammation

 

A chemical was used to cause hepatitis in mice. This resembles chemical and

immune induced hepatitis in humans. If the mice were first supplemented with

EGCG, Green Tea's most powerful polyphenol, they had a much smaller increase in

ALT, an enzyme that increases with liver damage indicating a good protective

effect for the liver tissue.

 

On further inspection there were fewer immune system cells moving into the

liver; these cells cause inflammation and damage in the liver. There was less

liver damage and less death of liver cells in the EGCG protected mice than the

unprotected. The EGCG worked by inhibiting an increased level of a host of

inflammatory cells in the liver. The study is published in the September 2006

issue of the journal Clinical and Experimental Immunology. -Jerry Hickey, RPh

 

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