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EGCG and HIV Treatment
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Green Tea Blocks HIV in Test Tubes
May 2009
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By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Health News
An antioxidant in green tea may block HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, from attaching to an
important molecule on immune system cells.
That finding is based on lab tests done on human blood cells, not people. The lab tests were
done by Christina Nance, PhD, and colleagues. Nance works in Houston, at Texas Children’s
Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine.
In a nutshell, Nance’s team wanted to see if epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a chemical found
in green tea, might block HIV from attaching to the immune system’s T-helper cells, thus
protecting those T cells from HIV’s damage. T-helper cells act as a “general” in directing and
activating other immune cells in the fight against HIV.
The results show that EGCG might indeed help do that. It’s not yet clear if the findings will have
meaning beyond the lab. HIV has proven to be crafty against many different attempts to thwart it
from latching onto immune system cells.
The test results were presented in Canada at the North American Research Conference on
Complementary & Alternative Medicine, held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Lab Tests
Nance’s team treated some human T cells with three doses of EGCG. For comparison, they
didn’t expose other T cells to EGCG.
Then they added an HIV component called gp120 to the T cells. The goal was to see if EGCG
thwarted gp120 from binding to a certain molecule -- the CD4 molecule -- on T-helper cells.
When gp120 latches onto a T cell’s CD4 molecule, it paves the way for HIV to enter -- and
eventually disable and kill -- the T cell.
EGCG “markedly inhibited” gp120 from binding to the T cells’ CD4 molecules, write Nance and
colleagues. The highest EGCG dose had the strongest effect. The lowest dose had the mildest
effect. The medium dose had a medium-sized effect.
However, none of the EGCG doses totally blocked gp120 from binding to the CD4 molecule, the
study shows.
This isn’t the first time that EGCG has been studied in HIV. In 1989, Japanese researchers
reported that EGCG may help block an enzyme called reverse transcriptase that slips HIV’s
genetic material into the host cell’s DNA.
WebMD Health News
An antioxidant in green tea may block HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, from attaching to an
important molecule on immune system cells.
That finding is based on lab tests done on human blood cells, not people. The lab tests were
done by Christina Nance, PhD, and colleagues. Nance works in Houston, at Texas Children’s
Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine.
In a nutshell, Nance’s team wanted to see if epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a chemical found
in green tea, might block HIV from attaching to the immune system’s T-helper cells, thus
protecting those T cells from HIV’s damage. T-helper cells act as a “general” in directing and
activating other immune cells in the fight against HIV.
The results show that EGCG might indeed help do that. It’s not yet clear if the findings will have
meaning beyond the lab. HIV has proven to be crafty against many different attempts to thwart it
from latching onto immune system cells.
The test results were presented in Canada at the North American Research Conference on
Complementary & Alternative Medicine, held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Lab Tests
Nance’s team treated some human T cells with three doses of EGCG. For comparison, they
didn’t expose other T cells to EGCG.
Then they added an HIV component called gp120 to the T cells. The goal was to see if EGCG
thwarted gp120 from binding to a certain molecule -- the CD4 molecule -- on T-helper cells.
When gp120 latches onto a T cell’s CD4 molecule, it paves the way for HIV to enter -- and
eventually disable and kill -- the T cell.
EGCG “markedly inhibited” gp120 from binding to the T cells’ CD4 molecules, write Nance and
colleagues. The highest EGCG dose had the strongest effect. The lowest dose had the mildest
effect. The medium dose had a medium-sized effect.
However, none of the EGCG doses totally blocked gp120 from binding to the CD4 molecule, the
study shows.
This isn’t the first time that EGCG has been studied in HIV. In 1989, Japanese researchers
reported that EGCG may help block an enzyme called reverse transcriptase that slips HIV’s
genetic material into the host cell’s DNA.
Related product: Wu-Long EGCG Tea Capsules Wu-Long EGCG Tea Powder Wu-Long Green Tea
Okinawan Green Tea
Okinawan Green Tea
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