Green tea is rich in polyphenol antioxidant catechins such as EGCG (epigallocatechin-3-gallate). Previous studies suggest that green tea may help prevent cancer, cardiovascular disease, inflammation, obesity and other chronic diseases. Now research reports that green tea EGCG may reduce fibroid growth. Fibroid tumors, called uterine leiomyoma, are benign uterine growths that commonly affect women.
The study, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, investigated the effect of EGCG on rat leiomyoma (ELT3) cells in vitro and in vivoo. Researchers at Meharry Medical College in Nashville treated three cultured rodent fibroid cells with EGCG (in vitro). The scientists also administered EGCG mixed in water or plain water to 20 mice implanted with fibroid cells for eight weeks (in vivo). The in vitro and in vivo cell responses were analyzed.
The researchers found that in vitro, treatment with EGCG decreased fibroid cell growth and induced fibroid cell death. In vivo findings revelaed that the EGCG mice had reduced fibroid growth. One EGCG mouse had no fibroid tumors after eight weeks.
“EGCG effectively inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis (cell death) in rat ELT3 uterine leiomyoma cells in vitro and in vivo,” the study authors conclude.
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