Green tea has been known for centuries for its great benefits, but a new study has found that it has the most powerful antibiotics, especially its ability to prevent the growth of dangerous bacteria that affects patients in hospitals.
A new German study has found that green tea can help fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Scientists from the German Center for Infection Research at the University Hospital in Cologne, together with researchers from the University of Surrey, have uncovered the presence of natural antioxidants in green tea, which can paralyze the ability of bacteria "Pseudomonas aeruginosa" resistant to multiple antibiotics; Journal of Medical Microbiology.
The compound found in green tea is called the antioxidant epigallocatechin gallate (abbreviated EGCG) and can reactivate the antibiotic aztreonam used to combat the widespread pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in hospitals, as well as increase its effectiveness.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa can cause severe lung infections or blood poisoning, and is usually treated with an aztreonam antibiotic when other antibiotics fail to treat them.However, resistance to this antibiotic makes treatment of this bacterial infection very difficult.
"We have been able to show that the anti-bacterial aztreonam prevented further spread of bacteria by placing the EGCG compound in the culture," says Professor Harald Zivert of the University of Cologne's Infection Research Center. For antibiotics. This synergistic effect was confirmed in the human body as well, and for this purpose the wax moth larvae were treated with antibiotics, once with and without EGCG.
In 2018, researchers from the universities of Lancaster and Leeds found that the compound "epigallocatechin-3-gallate" found in green tea can protect against atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is the main cause of heart attacks and strokes. In atherosclerosis, sediments form in vessels that restrict blood flow and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
| Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria cause pneumonia and septicemia (Deutsche Welle) |
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With the help of heparin, EGCG can break down a protein found on sediment, preventing blood from passing through vessels as needed.
Heparin and EGCG can rid blood vessels of dangerous fatty deposits. Based on these findings, British researchers have begun to develop new treatments for cardiovascular disease.
Molecular biologist Erich Vackner discovered in 2017 that the EGCG compound found in green tea could also have an effect on the treatment of Alzheimer's. In the laboratory, Vanker injected EGCG into live animal cells, noting that the proteins dissolved in the cells.
If Alzheimer's disease is actually caused by the fact that proteins in brain neurons clump together and destroy the cell, the solution of protein bundles may be a promising starting point for treating Alzheimer's disease, but this should happen with the arrival of the EGCG compound directly into the brain. . So far the experiment has been successful only under laboratory conditions under a microscope, but it suggests a promising future.