|
Green Tea Catechins Fight Constriction of Arteries Background: High blood
pressure can result from many things, among them arteries that are too
constricted. This constriction can occur because the smooth muscle cells lining
the artery
walls tighten up. Or it may be because these same cells
increase in size and number, leading to thicker vessel walls and narrower
vessels.
Whatever the cause of the constriction, getting the blood
vessels to relax and widen is an important step in treating high blood pressure.
Type of study: "Test-tube"
Study methods: In the lab, green tea's EC
and EGCg were mixed with rat arterial smooth muscle cells to see if the
catechins could induce blood vessel-relaxing and anti-overgrowth responses.
Before adding the catechins, the cells were exposed to a substance that
constricted them.
What happened: The catechins relaxed the
rat arterial cells and
inhibited their overgrowth.
Citation:
Chen ZY, Law WI,
Yao XQ, et al. Inhibitory effects of purified green tea epicatechins on
contraction and proliferation of arterial smooth muscle cells. Acta Pharmacol
Sin 2000;21(9):835-40. (Click
here to read PubMed study abstract.)
|
Nadine Taylor, M.S., R.D. presents
GreenTeaLibrary.com,
the most comprehensive collection of scientific information
describing the health benefits of green tea.
|
|
