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A New Function of Green Tea: Prevention of Lifestyle‐related Diseases
Author(s) -
Sueoka Naoko,
Suganuma Masami,
Sueoka Eisaburo,
Okabe Sachiko,
Matsuyama Satoru,
Imai Kazue,
Nakachi Kei,
Fujiki Hirota
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2001.tb05656.x
Subject(s) - medicine , green tea extract , rheumatoid arthritis , green tea , tumor necrosis factor alpha , in vivo , disease , genetically modified mouse , cancer , immunology , lung cancer , transgene , pharmacology , physiology , gene , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , food science
A bstract : In the normal human life span, there occur lifestyle‐related diseases that may be preventable with nontoxic agents. This paper deals with the preventive activity of green tea in some lifestyle‐related diseases. Green tea is one of the most practical cancer preventives, as we have shown in various in vitro and in vivo experiments, along with epidemiological studies. Among various biological effects of green tea, we have focused on its inhibitory effect on TNF‐α gene expression mediated through inhibition of NF‐κB and AP‐1 activation. Based on our recent results with TNF‐α‐deficient mice, TNF‐α is an endogenous tumor promoter. TNF‐α is also known to be a central mediator in chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. We therefore hypothesized that green tea might be a preventive agent for chronic inflammatory diseases. To test this hypothesis, TNF‐α transgenic mice, which overexpress TNF‐α only in the lungs, were examined. The TNF‐α transgenic mouse is an animal model of human idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis which also frequently develops lung cancer. Expressions of TNF‐α and IL‐6 were inhibited in the lungs of these mice after treatment with green tea in drinking water for 4 months. In addition, judging from the results of a prospective cohort study in Saitama Prefecture, Japan, green tea helps to prevent cardiovascular disease. In this study, a decreased relative risk of death from cardiovascular disease was found for people consuming over 10 cups of green tea a day, and green tea also had life‐prolonging effects on cumulative survival. These data suggest that green tea has preventive effects on both chronic inflammatory diseases and lifestyle‐related diseases (including cardiovascular disease and cancer), resulting in prolongation of life span.