In vitro and in vivo antidiarrhoeal activity of epigallocatechin 3-gallate: a major catechin isolated from indian green tea

Epigallocatechin 3-gallate (EGCG), one of the major catechins of tea, was isolated from the decaffeinated, crude methanolic extract of Indian green tea (Camellia sinensis L. O. Kuntze) using chromatographic techniques. EGCG was then screened for antidiarrhoeal activity against 30 strains (clinical isolates) of V. cholerae, which is a well known Gram negative bacillus functioning as the pathogen of cholera. V. cholerae strains like V. cholerae 69, 71, 83, 214, 978, 1021, 1315, 1347, 1348, 569B and ATCC 14033 were inhibited by EGCG at a concentration of $25\;{\mu}g/ml$ whereas V. cholerae 10, 522, 976 were even more sensitive, being inhibited at $10\;{\mu}g/ml$ level. However, V. cholerae DN 16, DN 26, 30, 42, 56, 58, 113, 117, 564, 593, 972 and ATCC 14035 were inhibited at $50\;{\mu}g/ml$ level of EGCG. Only four strains were inhibited at $100\;{\mu}g/ml$. In this study the isolated compound was found to be bacteriostatic in its mechanism of action. In the in vivo experiment using the rabbit ileal loop model two different dosages of EGCG ($500\;{\mu}g/ml$ and $1,000\;{\mu}g/ml$) were able to protect the animals when they were challenged with V. cholerae 569B in the ileum.