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Green Tea
and Hypoxia
When the body’s cells
are deprived of oxygen (a condition called hypoxia), they're in
big trouble because without enough oxygen, cells die. A heart attack is
a good example of hypoxia and its results. When a coronary artery
becomes blocked, it can’t deliver enough oxygen to the area of the heart
muscle it serves. As a result, that part of the heart muscle “dies” and
the individual suffers a heart attack.
But what if there were a substance that
could protect cells even in the presence of oxygen deprivation and maybe even
prevent cell death? In a recent study, researchers investigated the power of
green tea extract to do just that.
The researchers used cells taken from a
human liver tumor and divided them into two groups. Both groups of cells were
deprived of oxygen. But the cells in the test group were pre-treated with
varying concentrations of green tea’s EGCg in extract form (using doses of 12.5,
25, 50 and 100 micromoles), before being
exposed to oxygen deprivation.
In the control group, about 40% of the
cells died after being deprived of oxygen. But
those in the test group fared much better. The cells that had been exposed to
the lowest amounts of EGCg (12.5 micromoles) showed a 10 percent reduction in
cell death. But the cells that had been exposed to the highest amounts of EGCg
(100 micromoles) were all still alive at the end of the experiment.
Another indication that green tea is a powerful adjunct to good health!
Park HJ, Shin DH Chung WJ, et al.
Epigallocatechin gallate reduces hypoxia-induced apoptosis in human hepatoma
cells. Life Sci 2006;78(24)2826-32.
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Nadine Taylor, M.S., R.D. presents
GreenTeaLibrary.com, the most
comprehensive collection of scientific information describing the
health benefits of green tea.
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