Just a month old. Another miracle botanical-

1: J Nutr. 2008 Aug;138(8):1578S-1583S.

Targeting multiple neurodegenerative diseases etiologies with multimodal-acting
green tea catechins.

Mandel SA, Amit T, Kalfon L, Reznichenko L, Youdim MB.

Eve Topf Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases Research and Department of
Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Technion, Haifa, Israel.
mandel@tx.technion.ac.il

Green tea is currently considered a source of dietary constituents endowed with
biological and pharmacological activities relevant to human health. Human
epidemiological and new animal data suggest that the pharmacological benefits of
tea drinking may help to protect the brain as we age. Indeed, tea consumption is
inversely correlated with the incidence of dementia and Alzheimer's and
Parkinson's diseases. In particular, its main catechin polyphenol constituent
(-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate has been shown to exert
neuroprotective/neurorescue activities in a wide array of cellular and animal
models of neurological disorders. The intense efforts dedicated in recent years
to shed light on the molecular mechanisms participating in the brain protective
action of green tea indicate that in addition to the known antioxidant activity
of catechins, the modulation of signal transduction pathways, cell survival/death
genes, and mitochondrial function all contribute significantly to the induction
of neuron viability. Because of the multietiological character of
neurodegenerative disease pathology, these natural compounds are receiving
significant attention as therapeutic cytoprotective agents that simultaneously
manipulate multiple desired targets in the central nervous system. This article
elaborates on the multimodal activities of green tea polyphenols with emphasis on
their recently described neurorescue/neuroregenerative and mitochondrial
stabilization actions.


PMID: 18641210 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]