Green Tea News
The following is an article which appeared in the April 2003 issue of 'Arthritis Today', a magazine which is produced by Arthritis Research Campaign.
Drinking green tea may help keep arthritis at bay, according to research
carried out by a Sheffield scientist.
Dr David Buttle, Reader in Matrix Biology at the University of Sheffield,
has found that compounds in green tea called EGCG and ECG can block the enzyme
that destroys cartilage.
Cartilage destruction is one of the major factors in the progression of osteoarthritis,
a common, degenerative form of arthritis that results in stiff, painful joints
in more than two million people in the UK.
Dr Buttle believes that drinking green tea, for so long associated with good
health, could play a part in preventing the development of osteoarthritis.
Based at the university's Division of Genomic Medicine, he has carried out
laboratory-based tests on EGCG in research partly funded by the Arthritis
Research Campaign, whose national headquarters is in Chesterfield.
"If you have fairly severe joint damage it may be too late to do anything
about it, but if you spend decades of your life drinking green tea in the
end it may be beneficial," said Dr Buttle. "Green tea should be
drunk as a prophylactic, to prevent disease."
Further research is needed to assess the impact of the green tea compounds
in humans, but the potential health benefits could be of prospective interest
to nutriceutical companies (which manufacture health food products) to develop
a concentrated supplement. Already Sheffield University has taken out a patent
for the use of EGCG in osteoarthritis, and Sheffield University Ltd, their
commercial company, is seeking industrial partners to develop products. Dr
Buttle also believes green tea could also have clinical implications for the
other major type of joint disease, rheumatoid arthritis.
Green tea was first discovered in China nearly 5,000 years ago and its health-promoting
properties have long been recognised. It contains compounds called catechins,
of which EGCG is one, which are associated with alleviating conditions such
as stroke, cardiovascular disease, and even cancer. Its consumption has also
been linked to the prevention of coronary heart disease and is currently the
subject of a clinical trial in the US.
Dr Buttle has published his findings in various peer-reviewed journals, and
his latest research paper has been submitted to the European Journal of Biochemistry.
Released Feb 2003
CenterIMT tea is highly rich with the two bolded compounds (EGCG and ECG).
Mireille N. Vankemmelbeke1, Gavin C. Jones1, Cyprianne Fowles1, Mirna Z.
Ilic2, Christopher J. Handley2, Anthony J. Day3, C. Graham Knight4, John S.
Mort5 and David J. Buttle1
1 Division of Genomic Medicine, University of Sheffield Medical School, Sheffield
Children's Hospital, Stephenson Wing, D-Floor, UK; 2 School of Human Biosciences,
La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia 3083; 3 MRC Immunochemistry
Unit, Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, UK; 4 Department of
Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, UK; 5 Joint Diseases Laboratory, Shriners
Hospital for Children, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
D. J. Buttle, Division of Genomic Medicine, University of Sheffield Medical
School, Sheffield Children's Hospital, Stephenson Wing, D-Floor, Sheffield
S10 2TH, UK. Fax: + 44 114 2755364, Tel.: + 44 114 2717556, E-mail: d.j.buttle@sheffield.ac.uk
