Groene thee tegen bacteriën.*
Volgens een Sloveens onderzoek werkt groene thee prima tegen een bacteriële infectie.
Zij ontdekten dat de bioactieve stoffen, cathechinen in groene thee hiervoor verantwoordelijk zijn. Een kop groene thee bevat wel 200 mg. Catechinen met als belangrijkste EGCG. Dit EGCG remt het enzym DNA-gyrase waardoor de DNA synthese van bacteriën wordt geremd.
Cup
Of Green Tea To Keep The Bacteria Away
Beneficial
effects of green tea have been known for millenia, particularly in Asian
cultures. An ancient Chinese proverb says: "Better to be deprived of food
for three days, than tea for one". A cup of green tea contains up to 200 mg
of catechins, whose biological activity has been mainly attributed to its
antioxidant activity. Efficiency of green tea extract in oral hygiene has been
known for centuries and this gave researchers a clue that antibacterial activity
might be involved.
Now researchers from the National institute of Chemistry in Ljubljana, Slovenia
discovered that the main ingredients of green tea are able to perform other
tricks. They found out that green tea catechins inhibit essential bacterial
enzyme DNA gyrase, which is the target of several existing clinically used
drugs. By the use of NMR spectroscopy, researchers from Slovenia have now
pinpointed the ATP-binding site of DNA gyrase as target of EGCG, the most
abundant catechin from the green tea extract. Up to now several compounds
targeted against the ATP-binding site of bacteria gyrase have been known but
couldn't be used as drugs due to their side effects on mammalian cells.
Lead researcher Roman Jerala, the head of the Laboratory of Biotechnology at NIC
explains: "We can anticipate to avoid the problem of toxicity using the
compounds based on the green tea catechins, which have centuries of established
safety record in the human diet."
This finding may be used to develop even more potent antibacterial compounds.
Results were recently published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.
About the NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHEMISTRY - SLOVENIA
The National Institute of Chemistry is the Slovenian reseach institution that is
leading and known world-wide in the field of chemistry and related disciplines.
The performed research and modern infrastructure enables top-level scientific
research achievements, nurturing new human potentials and transferring knowledge
into the economy. (Jan. 2007) (Opm.
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