Green tea chemical triggers health benefits
14 Apr 2015
A team of scientists at the Institute of Food Research (IFR) has found evidence for a mechanism by which certain food compounds could help protect our health.
In the study, the IFR scientists showed that polyphenols in green tea and apples block a signalling molecule called VEGF, which in the body can trigger atherosclerosis and is a target for some anti-cancer drugs.
VEGF is considered a main driver of blood vessel formation in these cell types via a process called angiogenesis - which is crucial in cancer progression.
Angiogenesis is also fundamental in the development of atherosclerotic plaques and plaque rupture which can cause heart attacks and stroke.
To obtain it results, the IFR team used cells derived from human blood vessels and found that low concentrations of the polyphenols epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) from green tea and procyanidin from apples stopped a crucial signalling function of VEGF.
Though inhibition of VEGF signalling by dietary polyphenols has previously been implicated in other studies, the IFR study provides the first evidence that polyphenols can directly interact with VEGF to block its signals, at the levels you would see in the blood stream after eating polyphenol rich foods, the IFR team said.
IFR study leader Paul Kroon said: “If this effect happens in the body as well, it provides very strong evidence for a mechanism that links dietary polyphenols and beneficial health effects.”
Meanwhile, in an unexpected discovery, the research team also found that polyphenols also activated another enzyme signalling system that generates nitric oxide in the blood, which helps widen the blood vessels and prevent damage.
A full account of the study has been published in the journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research.
