[reverett123]

1: Biofactors. 2008;33(2):85-97.

Effects of a nutrient mixture on infectious properties of the highly pathogenic
strain of avian influenza virus A/H5N1.

Deryabin PG, Lvov DK, Botikov AG, Ivanov V, Kalinovsky T, Niedzwiecki A, Rath M.

Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, D.I. Ivanovsky Research Institute on
Virology, USA.

Numerous outbreaks of avian influenza virus infection (A/H5N1) have occurred
recently, infecting domestic birds, chicken and ducks. The possibility of the
emergence of a new strain of influenza virus capable of causing a pandemic in
humans is high and no vaccine effective against such a strain currently exists. A
unique nutrient mixture (NM), containing lysine, proline, ascorbic acid, green
tea extract, N-acetyl cysteine, selenium among other micro nutrients, has been
shown to exert a wide range of biochemical and pharmacological effects, including
an inhibitory effect on replication of influenza virus and HIV. This prompted us
to investigate the potential anti-viral activity of a nutrient mixture (NM) and
its components on avian influenza virus A/H5N1at viral dosages of 1.0, 0.1 and
0.01 TCID<formula>_{50}</formula>. Antiviral activity was studied in cultured
cell lines PK, BHK-21, and Vero-E6. Virus lysing activity was determined by
co-incubation of virus A/H5N1 with NM for 0-60 min, followed residual virulence
titration in cultured SPEV or BHK-21 cells. NM demonstrated high antiviral
activity evident even at prolonged periods after infection. NM antiviral
properties were comparable to those of conventional drugs (amantadine and
oseltamivir); however, NM had the advantage of affecting viral replication at the
late stages of the infection process.

PMID: 19346584 [PubMed - in process]

2: Biofactors. 2008;33(1):61-75.

Inhibition of cellular invasive parameters in influenza A virus-infected MDCK and
Vero cells by a nutrient mixture.

Roomi MW, Jariwalla RJ, Kalinovsky T, Roomi N, Niedzwiecki A, Rath M.

Dr. Rath Research Institute, Santa Clara, CA 95050, USA.

Influenza, a long-standing common infection, poses a serious health problem
causing significant morbidity and mortality, and imposing substantial economic
costs. To date there are no effective antiviral therapies. A unique nutrient
mixture (NM), containing lysine, proline, ascorbic acid, green tea extract,
N-acetyl cysteine and selenium among other micro nutrients, has been shown to
exert a wide range of biochemical and pharmacological effects, among them
anti-carcinogenic and anti-atherogenic activity both in vitro and in vivo. In a
previous study, NM was found to significantly inhibit influenza virus A
associated neuraminidase enzyme as well as production of NP antigen in a
dose-dependent manner. Influenza virus A not only infects pulmonary areas, but
also manifests in extrapulmonary areas, which require basement membrane
disruption by matrix metalloproteinases capable of degrading collagen type IV.
This prompted us to study the effect of NM on cellular invasive parameters of
virus-infected and non-infected MDCK and Vero cells. NM inhibited extracellular
invasive parameters such as MMP-2 and MMP-9 secretion and Matrigel invasion.
Results indicated that the relatively non-toxic nutrient mixture tested in this
investigation has potential in influenza treatment by not only decreasing viral
multiplication in infected cells but also by blocking the enzymatic degradation
of the extracellular matrix.

PMID: 19276537 [PubMed - in process]

3: J Am Coll Nutr. 2007 Oct;26(5):445-52.

Specific formulation of Camellia sinensis prevents cold and flu symptoms and
enhances gamma,delta T cell function: a randomized, double-blind,
placebo-controlled study.

Rowe CA, Nantz MP, Bukowski JF, Percival SS.

Food Science and Human Nutrition Department, University of Florida, Gainesville,
Florida 32611, USA.

OBJECTIVE: Determine if a specific formulation of Camellia sinensis (CSF) can
prevent illness and symptoms due to cold and flu, and enhance gammadelta T cell
function METHODS: Design: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.
Subjects: Healthy adults 18-70 years old. Intervention: Proprietary formulation
of Camellia sinensis (green tea) capsules, or a placebo, twice a day, for 3
months. Measures of Outcome: As assessed by daily symptom logs, percentage of
subjects experiencing cold and flu symptoms, number of days subjects experienced
symptoms, and percentage of subjects seeking medical treatment. Mean in vivo and
ex vivo proliferative and interferon gamma responses of subjects' peripheral
blood mononuclear cells to gammadelta T cell antigen stimulation. RESULTS: Among
subjects taking CSF there were 32.1% fewer subjects with symptoms (P = 0.035),
22.9% fewer overall illnesses of at least 2 days duration (P = 0.092), and 35.6%
fewer symptom days (P < 0.002), compared to subjects taking placebo. gammadelta T
cells from subjects taking CSF proliferated 28% more (P = 0.017) and secreted 26%
more IFN-gamma (P = 0.046) in response to gammadelta T cell antigens, as compared
to gammadelta T cells from subjects taking placebo. CSF was well-tolerated.
CONCLUSIONS: This proprietary formulation of CSF is a safe and effective dietary
supplement for preventing cold and flu symptoms, and for enhancing gammadelta T
cell function.

Publication Types:
Randomized Controlled Trial
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

PMID: 17914132 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

4: Biofactors. 2007;31(1):1-15.

Suppression of influenza A virus nuclear antigen production and neuraminidase
activity by a nutrient mixture containing ascorbic acid, green tea extract and
amino acids.

Jariwalla RJ, Roomi MW, Gangapurkar B, Kalinovsky T, Niedzwiecki A, Rath M.

Dr. Rath Research Institute, Santa Clara, CA, USA.

Influenza, one of the oldest and most common infections, poses a serious health
problem causing significant morbidity and mortality, and imposing substantial
economic costs. The efficacy of current drugs is limited and improved therapies
are needed. A unique nutrient mixture (NM), containing ascorbic acid, green tea
extract, lysine, proline, N-acetyl cysteine, selenium among other micronutrients,
has been shown to exert anti-carcinogenic and anti-atherogenic activity both in
vitro and in vivo. Many of the constituents of NM have been shown to have an
inhibitory effect on replication of influenza virus and HIV. This prompted us to
study the effect of NM on influenza A virus multiplication in infected cells and
neuraminidase activity (NA) in virus particles. Addition of NM to Vero or MDCK
cells post infection resulted in dose-dependent inhibition of viral nucleoprotein
(NP) production in infected cells. NM-mediated inhibition of viral NP was
selective and not due to cytotoxicity towards host cells. This antiviral effect
was enhanced by pretreatment of virus with the nutrient mixture. Individual
components of NM, namely ascorbic acid and green tea extract, also blocked viral
NP production, conferring enhanced inhibition when tested in combination.
Incubation of cell-free virus with NM resulted in dose-dependent inhibition of
associated NA enzyme activity. In conclusion, the nutrient mixture exerts an
antiviral effect against influenza A virus by lowering viral protein production
in infected cells and diminishing viral enzymatic activity in cell-free
particles.

PMID: 18806304 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

5: J Altern Complement Med. 2006 Sep;12(7):669-72.

Gargling with tea catechin extracts for the prevention of influenza infection in
elderly nursing home residents: a prospective clinical study.

Yamada H, Takuma N, Daimon T, Hara Y.

Division of Drug Evaluation & Informatics, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences,
University of Shizuoka, Shizuoka, Japan. hyamada@u-shizuoka-ken.ac.jp

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effects of gargling tea catechin extracts on the
prevention of influenza infection in elderly nursing home residents. DESIGN: A
prospective study conducted for 3 months from January to March 2005.
SETTINGS/LOCATION: A nursing home in Japan. SUBJECTS: A total of 124 elderly
residents of at least 65 years of age were enrolled in the study. Seventy-six
residents (83 +/-8.2 years, mean +/-standard deviation; 24 men, 52 women) gargled
with tea catechin extract (catechin group) and were compared with 48 age- and
sex-matched residents who gargled without tea catechin extracts (control group).
All the residents were vaccinated with an influenza vaccine until early December
2004. INTERVENTIONS: catechin group: gargling with the tea catechin extract
solution (200 microg/mL catechins, 60% of catechins comprise epigallocatechin
gallate); control group: gargling without the catechin extract solution. In both
groups, gargling was performed three times daily for 3 months. OUTCOME MEASURES:
The incidence of influenza infection during the study was compared between the
two groups. A safety evaluation was conducted to observe adverse events during
the study. RESULTS: The incidence of influenza infection was significantly lower
in the catechin group (1.3%, one resident) than in the control group (10%, five
residents) calculated by multivariate logistic regression analysis (p = 0.028;
odds ratio, 15.711; 95% confidence interval, 1.883-399.658). No adverse events,
such as respiratory tract irritation, an obstruction, or allergic bronchial
spasm, were observed during the study. CONCLUSIONS: This prospective study
demonstrating the effect of catechin gargling on the prevention of influenza
infection in the elderly is the first to be reported in the literature. Further
randomized, controlled studies are needed to confirm the effects of catechin
gargling on the prevention of influenza infection.

Publication Types:
Controlled Clinical Trial
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

PMID: 16970537 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

6: Antiviral Res. 2005 Nov;68(2):66-74. Epub 2005 Aug 9.

Antiviral effect of catechins in green tea on influenza virus.

Song JM, Lee KH, Seong BL.

Department of Biotechnology, College of Engineering, Yonsei University, 134,
Shinchon-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 120-749, South Korea.

Polyphenolic compound catechins ((-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG),
(-)-epicatechin gallate (ECG) and (-)-epigallocatechin (EGC)) from green tea were
evaluated for their ability to inhibit influenza virus replication in cell
culture and for potentially direct virucidal effect. Among the test compounds,
the EGCG and ECG were found to be potent inhibitors of influenza virus
replication in MDCK cell culture and this effect was observed in all influenza
virus subtypes tested, including A/H1N1, A/H3N2 and B virus. The 50% effective
inhibition concentration (EC50) of EGCG, ECG, and EGC for influenza A virus were
22-28, 22-40 and 309-318 microM, respectively. EGCG and ECG exhibited
hemagglutination inhibition activity, EGCG being more effective. However, the
sensitivity in hemagglutination inhibition was widely different among three
different subtypes of influenza viruses tested. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis
revealed that, at high concentration, EGCG and ECG also suppressed viral RNA
synthesis in MDCK cells whereas EGC failed to show similar effect. Similarly,
EGCG and ECG inhibited the neuraminidase activity more effectively than the EGC.
The results show that the 3-galloyl group of catechin skeleton plays an important
role on the observed antiviral activity, whereas the 5'-OH at the trihydroxy
benzyl moiety at 2-position plays a minor role. The results, along with the HA
type-specific effect, suggest that the antiviral effect of catechins on influenza
virus is mediated not only by specific interaction with HA, but altering the
physical properties of viral membrane.

Publication Types:
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

PMID: 16137775 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

7: Antiviral Res. 2003 Apr;58(2):167-73.

Inhibition of adenovirus infection and adenain by green tea catechins.

Weber JM, Ruzindana-Umunyana A, Imbeault L, Sircar S.

Departement de Microbiologie et d'Infectiologie, Faculte de Medecine, Universite
de Sherbrooke, Que, Sherbrooke, Canada J1H 5N4. joseph.weber@usherbrooke.ca

Green tea catechins have been reported to inhibit proteases involved in cancer
metastasis and infection by influenza virus and HIV. To date there are no
effective anti-adenoviral therapies. Consequently, we studied the effect of green
tea catechins, and particularly the predominant component,
epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), on adenovirus infection and the viral protease
adenain, in cell culture. Adding EGCG (100 microM) to the medium of infected
cells reduced virus yield by two orders of magnitude, giving and IC(50) of 25
microM and a therapeutic index of 22 in Hep2 cells. The agent was the most
effective when added to the cells during the transition from the early to the
late phase of viral infection suggesting that EGCG inhibits one or more late
steps in virus infection. One of these steps appears to be virus assembly because
the titer of infectious virus and the production of physical particles was much
more affected than the synthesis of virus proteins. Another step might be the
maturation cleavages carried out by adenain. Of the four catechins tested on
adenain, EGCG was the most inhibitory with an IC(50) of 109 microM, compared with
an IC(50) of 714 microM for PCMB, a standard cysteine protease inhibitor. EGCG
and different green teas inactivated purified adenovirions with IC(50) of 250 and
245-3095, respectively. We conclude that the anti-adenoviral activity of EGCG
manifests itself through several mechanisms, both outside and inside the cell,
but at effective drug concentrations well above that reported in the serum of
green tea drinkers.

Publication Types:
Comparative Study
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

PMID: 12742577 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

8: Microbiol Immunol. 2002;46(7):491-4.

Additional inhibitory effect of tea extract on the growth of influenza A and B
viruses in MDCK cells.

Imanishi N, Tuji Y, Katada Y, Maruhashi M, Konosu S, Mantani N, Terasawa K,
Ochiai H.

Department of Oriental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Toyama Medical and
Pharmaceutical University, Japan.

It has been previously reported that green-tea extract (GTE) inhibits the growth
of influenza virus by preventing its adsorption. In this study, we further
investigated whether GTE exerts an additional inhibitory effect on the
acidification of intracellular compartments such as endosomes and lysosomes
(referred to as ELS) and thereby inhibits the growth of influenza A and B viruses
in Madin-Darby canine kidney cells. The vital fluorescence microscopic study
showed that GTE inhibited acidification of ELS in a concentration-dependent
manner. Moreover, the growth of influenza A and B viruses was equally inhibited
when the cells were treated with GTE within as early as 5 to 15 min after
infection, depending on the virus strains. The fact that (-)epigallocatechin
(EGC), one of major catechin molecules in GTE, exerts the inhibitory effects on
the acidification of ELS and virus growth in a manner similar to that of GTE
strongly suggests that EGC is one of the active components in the extract.

PMID: 12222936 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

9: Kansenshogaku Zasshi. 1997 Jun;71(6):487-94.

[Prophylactic effect of black tea extract as gargle against influenza]

[Article in Japanese]

Iwata M, Toda M, Nakayama M, Tsujiyama H, Endo W, Takahashi O, Hara Y, Shimamura
T.

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Showa University School of Medicine.

We examined whether gargling with black tea prevents influenza infection. Tests
were carried out during a five month period (October 1992 to March 1993). The
control group that followed their normal daily routine, whereas the test group
that gargled with 0.5 w/v% black tea extract twice daily (at 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.).
Influenza viruses were isolated from influenza patients and an antigen analysis
was carried out. As a result, two strains of influenza A viruses (H3N2) and ten
strains of B virus were detected. An HI test was done using paired sera of the
control group and the test group. The HI titers raised a four fold or greater in
48.8% (61/125) in the control group and 35.1% (35/134) in the test group. There
was a significant difference (p < 0.05) between the control and test groups.
These results indicate that black tea extract is effective as a prophylactic
agent against influenza infection.

Publication Types:
Clinical Trial
Controlled Clinical Trial
English Abstract

PMID: 9248263 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

10: Kansenshogaku Zasshi. 1994 Jul;68(7):824-9.

[Inhibition of the infectivity of influenza virus by black tea extract]

[Article in Japanese]

Nakayama M, Toda M, Okubo S, Hara Y, Shimamura T.

Department of Virology, Showa University School of Medicine.

We determined whether black tea extract inhibits the infectivity of influenza
virus to mice. When mice were inoculated intranasally with 10(5.3) PFU influenza
viruses (10(1.3) LD50), their body weight decreased and all died within 10 days.
Whereas, when mice were inoculated i.n. with the mixture of influenza viruses and
2% (w/w) black tea extract, 5 min after mixing, all mice showed normal
body-weight increase and survived. Neutralizing antibody to influenza virus was
not detected in nine of 10 survived mice. The results indicate that black tea
extract at beverage concentration (2% w/w) inhibits almost completely the
infectivity of influenza virus to mice and that in vivo reversion of the
tea-inactivated influenza virus does not occur.

Publication Types:
English Abstract

PMID: 8089547 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

11: Antiviral Res. 1993 Aug;21(4):289-99.

Inhibition of the infectivity of influenza virus by tea polyphenols.

Nakayama M, Suzuki K, Toda M, Okubo S, Hara Y, Shimamura T.

Department of Virology and Rickettsiology, National Institute of Health, Tokyo,
Japan.

(-)Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg) and theaflavin digallate (TF3) (1-10 microM)
inhibited the infectivity of both influenza A virus and influenza B virus in
Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells in vitro. Study by electron microscope
revealed that EGCg and TF3 (1 mM) agglutinated influenza viruses as well as did
antibody, and that they prevented the viruses from adsorbing to MDCK cells. EGCg
and TF3 more weakly inhibited adsorption of the viruses to MDCK cells. EGCg and
TF3 (1-16 microM) also inhibited haemagglutination by influenza viruses. These
findings suggest that tea polyphenols bind to the haemagglutinin of influenza
virus, inhibit its adsorption to MDCK cells, and thus block its infectivity.

Publication Types:
Comparative Study

PMID: 8215301 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

12: Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1949 May;71(1):84.

Inhibition of multiplication of influenza virus by extracts of tea.

GREEN RH.

PMID: 18151487 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

[lurkingforacure]

Great research, Rick, it's sad, though, looking at those dates, this information has been known for years and yet all you read in the mainstream media today (no wonder they are tanking) is pandemic, pandemic, pandemic based on the swine flu in Mexico. Think there will be a run on tea? lol