• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.117-123
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• 2002

The five main green tea catechin components such as (+)-catechin, (-)-epicatechin, (-)-epigallocatechin, (-)-epicatechin gallate, and (-)-epigallocatechin gallate were analyzed quantitatively from commercial green tea by HPLC. Amounts of catechins decreased in the following order : (+)-catechin > (-)-epigallocatechin gallate >(-)-epigallocatechin >(-)-epicatechin >(-)-epicatechin gallate. In this study, the stability of the following green tea catechins to pH in the range from 3 to 11 was studied using of ultraviolet spectroscopy : (+)-catechin, (-)-epicatechin, (-)-epicatechin gallate, and (-)-epigallocatechin gallate. This study demonstrated that green tea catechins were not stable at high pH and that the pH-, and time-dependent spectral alternatives were not reversible In conclusion, low pH is important to maintain the efficient utilization of green tea catechins.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.104-111
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• 2005

Tumor invasion is composed of four steps: cell adhesion to the extracellular matrix, degradation of the extracellular matrix components, tumor cell motility followed by cell detachment. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are important proteinases that associated with degradation of matrix component. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is a major polyphenotic constituent of green tea. In the study, we examined the anti-invasive and MMP activity suppression effects of EGCG in MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells. MDA-MB-23l human breast cancer cells were cultured with various concentrations 0 - 100 μM of EGCG. EGCG significantly inhibited the cell adhesion to the fibronectin. Cell motility through gelatin filter and invasion to Matrigel were inhibited dose-dependently by EGCG treatment. EGCG also inhibited the activities of MMP-2, -9 and the amount of MMP-9 (α = 0.05). Therefore, EGCG may contribute to the potential beneficial food component to prevent the invasion and metastasis in breast cancer. (Korean J Nutrition 38(2): 104～111, 2005)

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.199-205
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• 2009

Background: A major ingredient of green tea is epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), and this is known to have many beneficial effects for cancer prevention and also on the cardiovascular system and neurodegenerative diseases through its anti-oxidant, anti-angiogenic, anti-inflammatory, lipid-lowering and neuroprotective properties. Its actions on nociception and the spinal nervous system have been examined in only a few studies, and in these studies EGCG showed an antinociceptive effect on inflammatory and neuropathic pain, and a neuroprotective effect in motor neuron disease. This study was performed to investigate the effect of EGCG on acute thermal pain and the development of morphine tolerance at the spinal level. Methods: The experimental subjects were male Sprague-Dawley rats and the Hot-Box test was employed. A single or double-lumen intrathecal catheter was implanted at the lumbar enlargement for drug administration. An osmotic pump was used to infuse morphine for 7 days for induction of morphine tolerance. EGCG was injected repeatedly for 7 days at twice a day through the intrathecal catheter. Results: Intrathecal EGCG increased the paw withdrawal latency (PWL) after repeated administration for 7 days at twice a day, but this did not happen with administering on single bolus injection of EGCG. In addition, the antinociceptive effect of intrathecal morphine was not affected by co-administration with EGCG. A continuous 7-day infusion of morphine caused a significant decrease of the PWL in the control group (M + S, morphine plus saline). In contrast, intrathecal EGCG injection over 7 days blocked the decrease of the PWL in the experiment group (M + E, morphine plus EGCG). Conclusions: Intrathecal ECGC produced a weak antinociceptive effect for acute thermal pain, but it did not change the morphine's analgesic effect. However, the development of antinociceptive tolerance to morphine was attenuated by administering intrathecal EGCG.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.12 no.11
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• pp.278-285
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• 2012

In an experiment in which fermentation was done by adding fungal species that have antibiosis but do not have cellulase, the extraction amount of EGC, EC, EGCG, and ECG increased in all samples that fermented by adding sun-dried salt compared to those that fermented only with green tea after fermenting green tea by mixing it with sun-dried salt. In the analysis conducted according to the days of fermentation, the high extraction amounts of EGC(epigallocatechin), ECG(epicatechin gallate), EC(epicatechin), and EGCG(epigallocatechin gallate) were detected on the second and third day. Furthermore, when fermentation was done by adding ferment bacillus, all types of catechin(EGC, EC, EGCG, ECG) extraction increased in Paenibacillus spp but in Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, EGC and EC decreased while EGCG and ECG increased; whereas in Bacillus pumilus and Bacillus subtilis all types of catechin(EGC, EC, EGCG, ECG) decreased. The results of the above experiment reveal that the largest amount of catechin was extracted from the result which conducted fermentation for three days together with sun-dried salt and Paenibacillus spp in the green tea.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.2222-2226
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• 2011

Amylase is a digestive enzyme that catalyses the starch into sugar. It has been reported that the green tea flavonoid (or polyphenols) (-)-epigallocatechin 3-gallate (EGCG) inhibits human salivary ${\alpha}$-amylase (HSA) and induced anti-nutritional effects. In this study, we performed docking study for seven EGCG-like flavonoids and HSA to understand the interaction mechanism of HSA and EGCG and suggest new possible flavonoid inhibitors of HSA. As a result, EGCG and (-)-epicatechin gallate (ECG) bind to HSA with complex hydrogen bonding interactions. These hydrogen bonding interactions are important for inhibitory activity of EGCG against HSA. We suggested that ECG can be a potent inhibitor of HSA. This study will be helpful to understand the mechanism of inhibition of HSA by EGCG and give insights to develop therapeutic strategies against diabetes.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.332-337
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) on the pharmacokinetics of nimodipine in rats. Pharmacokinetic parameters of nimodipine were determined in rats after oral and iv administration of nimodipine with or without EGCG and also the effect of EGCG on the cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A4 and P-glycoprotein (P-gp) activity were evaluated. EGCG inhibited CYP3A4 and P-gp activity. EGCG significantly increased the area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) and peak plasma concentration ($C_{max}$) of nimodipine. The absolute bioavailability (AB%) and relative bioavailability (RB%) of nimodipine by EGCG were increased by 16% and by 48%, respectively, compared to the control. In contrast, EGCG did not affect the intravenous pharmacokinetics of nimodipine. Based on these results, the increased bioavailability of nimodipine might be due to inhibition of CYP3A4 in the small intestine and/or in the liver and inhibition of P-gp in the small intestine by EGCG.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.4815-4822
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• 2012

Invasion and metastasis are the major causes of cancer-related death. Pharmacological or therapeutic interventions such as chemoprevention of the progression stages of neoplastic development could result in substantial reduction in the incidence of cancer mortality. (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a promising chemopreventive agent, has attracted extensive interest for cancer therapy utilizing its antioxidant, anti-proliferative and inhibitory effects on angiogenesis and tumor cell invasion. In this study, we assessed the influence of EGCG on the proliferative potential of HeLa cells by cell viability assay and authenticated the results by nuclear morphological examination, DNA laddering assay and cell cycle analysis. Further we analyzed the anti-invasive properties of EGCG by wound migration assay and gene expression of MMP-9 and TIMP-1 in HeLa cells. Our results indicated that EGCG induced growth inhibition of HeLa cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. It was observed that cell death mediated by EGCG was through apoptosis. Interestingly, EGCG effectively inhibited invasion and migration of HeLa cells and modulated the expression of related genes (MMP-9 and TIMP-1). These results indicate that EGCG may effectively suppress promotion and progression stages of cervical cancer development.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.97-106
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• 2009

Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a well-known antioxidant molecule, has been reported to cause hepatotoxicity when used in excess. However, the mechanism underlying EGCG-induced hepatotoxicity is still unclear. To better understand the mode of action of EGCG-induced hepatotoxicity, we examined the effect of EGCG on human hepatic gene expression in HepG2 cells using microarrays. Analyses of microarray data revealed more than 1300 differentially expressed genes with a variety of biological processes. Upregulated genes showed a primary involvement with protein-related biological processes, such as protein synthesis, protein modification, and protein trafficking, while downregulated genes demonstrated a strong association with lipid transport. Genes involved in cellular stress responses were highly upregulated by EGCG treatment, in particular genes involved in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, such as GADD153, GADD34, and ATF3. In addition, changes in genes responsible for cholesterol synthesis and lipid transport were also observed, which explains the high accumulation of EGCG-induced lipids. We also identified other regulatory genes that might aid in clarifying the molecular mechanism underlying EGCG-induced hepatotoxicity.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.36 no.8
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• pp.983-988
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• 2007

Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a principal antioxidant derived from green tea, is one of the most extensively investigated chemopreventive phytochemicals. However, the effect of EGCG on proliferation in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell is not well known. We investigated the effect of EGCG on protein and mRNA expression related to cell proliferation in MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cell lines. We cultured MDA-MB-231 cells in the presence of 0, 5, 10 and 20 ${\mu}m$ of EGCG. EGCG significantly inhibited the cancer cell proliferation (p<0.05). In MDA-MB-231 huamn breast cancer cell, EGCG lowered $ErbB_2$ and $ErbB_3$ protein as well as mRNA expression. In addition, protein and mRNA expression of phosphorylated Akt and total Akt were significantly decreased (p<0.05). We suggest that EGCG inhibits cell proliferation through $ErbB_2$, $ErbB_3$ and Akt cell signaling.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.183-190
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• 2002

The mechanism by which catechin-mediated cytotoxicity against tumor cells remains to be elusive. To elucidate the mechanical mights of anti-tumor effects, (-)epigallocatechin-gallate (EGCG) of catechin was applied to human prostate cancer DU 145 cells. Cell viability was measured by crystal violet staining. Cell lysates were wed to measure the catalytic activity of caspases by using fluorogenic peptide: Ac-DEVD-AMC for caspase-3 protease, Z-IETD-AFC for caspase-8 protease, Ac-LEHD-AFC for caspase-9 protease as substrates. The equal amounts of protein from cell lysate was separated on SDS-PAGE and analyzed by western blotting with anti-Fas antibody, anti-FasL antibody, anti-BCL2 antibody and anti-Bax antibody. (-)EGCG induced the death of DUl45 cells, which was revealed as apoptosis shown by DNA fragmentation. (-)EGCG induced the activation of caspase family cysteine proteases including caspase-3, -8 and -9 proteases in DU145 cells. Also, (-)EGCG increased the expression of Fas and Fas ligand (FasL) protein in DU145 colls. The expression level of BCL2 was decreased in (-)EGCG treated DU145 cells, whereas Bax protein was increased in a time-dependent manner. We suggest that (-)EGCG-induced apoptosis of DU145 cells is mediated by signaling pathway involving caspase family cysteine protease, mitochondrial BCL2-family protein and Fas/FasL.