A new study from the University of Michigan Health System and the University of Michigan School of Medicine was presented at the national Experimental Biology meeting in Washington, D.C.
Lead researcher, Salah-uddin Ahmed, stated that "it's too early" to fully recommend green tea to ease rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but the “study is a starting point."
In the study, Ahmed isolated cells called synovial fibroblasts from the joints of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. These cells form the inside lining of tissue inside the capsule of a joint. This synovial lining becomes inflamed in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The inflammation leads to joint destruction and crippling deformity.
The researchers cultured these cells and exposed them to the active ingredient in green tea, a compound named epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG). Next, the cells were stimulated with a protein called interleukin-1B. Interleukin -1B is a cytokine. Cytokines are chemical messengers that promote joint inflammation and destruction through the production of damaging proteins and enzymes.
In an earlier study, Ahmed's team found that fibroblasts pretreated with EGCG and then stimulated with cytokine IL-1B were better able to block IL-1B's ability to produce the damaging proteins and enzymes that cause the cartilage breakdown seen in people with rheumatoid arthritis.
In the current study, the researchers also looked at whether EGCG had the ability to block the activity of two potent molecules, IL-6 and cyclooxygenase-2 (Cox-2), which also play a role in joint inflammation in RA.
The two molecules were suppressed by the EGCG significantly, Ahmed reported.
EGCG also blocked the production of prostaglandin E2, another compound that can promote joint inflammation.
The new research by Ahmed is one of the first to focus on rheumatoid arthritis and green tea. Ahmed cautioned that while it's too soon to advise rheumatoid arthritis patients to drink green tea, drinking green tea certainly wouldn't hurt, he said. Green tea is known to have many health benefits and no known side effects.
