Production of anti-cancer nanoparticles using tea!
According to the researchers, the chemicals in tea are the best materials for making gold nanoparticles that are biologically stable and have anti-cancer properties.
According to an article published in the journal Materials Chemistry by researchers at the University of Missouri, the chemicals in tea are the best that have ever been discovered to make bioparticle gold nanoparticles that are biologically safe.
More importantly, these nanoparticles show promising anti-cancer properties.
This research group is led by Dr. Katesh Kati, lead researcher at the National Cancer Institute’s research project entitled Using Hybrid Nanoparticles in Imaging and Treatment of Prostate Cancer.
They brewed a teapot of Darjeeling tea (a type of Indian black tea grown in the area of ??the same name) and added gold salts.
These salts are reduced by the phytochemicals in tea, which are known to have good health effects. While these chemicals regulate particle size, they increase their likelihood of uptake by breast and prostate cancer cells and increase their potential for use as cancer-targeting drugs. These nanoparticles are also highly stable in the environment.
Dr. Katie says that the discovery of the production of nanoparticles using non-toxic substances in tea is of great importance in medical and technological applications.
He explains that gold nanoparticles have many applications in medicine and other fields of technology, but at present the synthesis of these nanoparticles requires toxic reagents, which makes their use inappropriate in the body.
The natural chemicals used in this method are safe for the body and the reaction does not produce any toxic by-products, except that it has a slightly unpleasant taste of iced tea.
The research is sponsored by the NCI Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer, a comprehensive program to accelerate the use of nanotechnology in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer.