Green Tea vs. Rheumatoid Arthritis

A compound found in green tea may reduce inflammation and
joint damage in rheumatoid arthritis.

So say scientists from the University of Michigan Medical School. They
included Salah-uddin Ahmed, PhD.

Their preliminary lab tests show that the green tea compound EGCG may hold
promise as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

The scientists studied joint cells called synovial fibroblasts that had been
affected by rheumatoid arthritis.

First, the researchers treated some RA synovial fibroblasts with EGCG. For
comparison, they didn't treat other synovial fibroblasts with EGCG.

Next, the scientists exposed both sets of synovial fibroblasts for 24 hours
to an inflammatory chemical linked to RA.

The EGCG-treated cells produced lower levels of two other inflammatory
chemicals than cells that hadn't been treated with EGCG. In fact, the highest
tested dose of EGCG virtually halted production of those inflammatory chemicals
during the experiment.

Further lab tests show that EGCG blocked a chemical chain reaction linked to
inflammation and joint damage.

"The results from this study suggest that EGCG may be of potential
therapeutic value in regulating the joint destruction in RA," write Ahmed
and colleagues.

The study doesn't show whether drinking green tea has the same effect or how
much green tea would be needed to achieve the results.

The findings were presented in Washington, D.C., yesterday at Experimental
Biology 2007, an annual scientific meeting that includes several scientific
societies.

By Miranda Hitti
Reviewed by Louise Chang
B)2005-2006 WebMD, Inc. All rights reserved