Suppression of cancer cells with tea polyphenols
Researchers from the Department of Human Health and Nutrition Sciences at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, have found that polyphenols in tea have anticancer effects.
The polyphenols in tea prevent tumor formation, reduce the proliferation of cancer cells, increase normal cell death (apoptosis), and suppress the formation of new tumor-feeding blood vessels (angiogenesis).
The major polyphenol extractable from green tea and the most biologically active type is epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). When dissolved in low-fat milk or other milk products, it retains its bioactivity and remains at concentrations above 0.03. Milligrams per milliliter reduces the rate of proliferation of colon cancer cells in the culture medium.
Researchers in the Department of Human Health and Nutrition at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, say the results create a new function for milk as an ideal platform for releasing active biomaterials, opening the door to a new generation of dairy products that have greater health benefits. They are human, it opens.
According to them, most of the polyphenols that can be extracted from tea are flavan 3, which are often referred to as catechins. Epigallocatechin gallate is the major catechin in tea. This research has shown that the polyphenols in tea prevent tumor formation, reduce the proliferation of cancer cells, increase normal cell death (apoptosis), and suppress the formation of new tumor-feeding blood vessels (angiogenesis).
They say that catechins in tea have poor bioavailability for a number of reasons, and the aim of the present study was to encapsulate epigallocatechin gallate in a casein molecule called milk micelle to maintain and enhance catechin bioavailability.
In one experiment, human colorectal cancer cells (HT-29) were grown for 24 hours in the presence of EGCG in water or milk solution, the researchers said. Cancer cell viability (cell viability) was measured and it was observed that epigallocatechin gallate reduced cell viability in a dose-dependent manner, although at higher concentrations (0.15 mg / ml and above), the antiproliferative effect of EGCG in water was greater than in milk.
Another experiment looked at cancer cell proliferation after adding EGCG to various milk products, including low-fat milk, whey and whey. While there were some differences in cell proliferation at lower concentrations between epigallocatechin gallate in the control medium and soluble epigallocatechin gallate in milk components, at higher concentrations (0.8 mg / ml and above) EGCG promoted the growth of cancer cells and breast cancer cells. Or reduced water by 80 percent or more.
For polyphenols to be used clinically for biological health benefits, researchers say, polyphenols must be available and active. Even when they are in the form of food. This study showed that binding of epigallocatechin gallate to casein micelles did not affect the bioavailability and cellular uptake of epigallocatechin gallate at concentrations higher than 0.03 mg EGCG / ml low-fat milk.