31 May 2008. Fortune telling aside, green tea has been touted as
a potential cure for a myriad of conditions, including cancer
and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer and Parkinson
diseases. Scientific evidence that the brew might work has just
become stronger. In yesterday’s Nature Structural & Molecular
Biology, researchers in Germany report that (-)-epigallocatechin
gallate (EGCG), a polyphenol found in green tea, prevents both
amyloid-β (Aβ) and α-synuclein from forming toxic oligomers. The
work suggests that EGCG works as a generic inhibitor of
amyloids, making it a potential lead for treatments of not only
AD and PD but perhaps any amyloidosis. This is not the first
evidence that the polyphenol might in theory benefit AD
patients. EGCG appears to block Aβ formation by stimulating
α-secretase cleavage of the amyloid-β precursor protein (see ARF
related news story), and it may even protect neurons against
toxic forms of Aβ (see ARF related news story). How it achieves
either is not clear, but res