Scientists at the Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital in Houston previously presented evidence that at physiologic concentrations the green tea antioxidant EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate), inhibited the AIDS virus by inhibiting the attachment of HIV-1 glycoprotein 120 to the CD4 molecule on T cells, but the downstream effects of EGCG on HIV-1 infectivity were not determined.   They designed this follow-up study to evaluate the inhibition of HIV-1 infectivity by EGCG and begin preclinical development of EGCG as a possible therapy. Immune system cells (PBMCs, CD4(+) T cells, and macrophages) were isolated from blood of HIV-1-uninfected donors.

Viral researchers at the School of Medicine, Wuhan University investigated the effects of Green Teas major antioxidant EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate) on the influenza A virus in vitro and in vivo (the bird flu virus). EGCG WAS administered to cells in three different ways (method I: administration before infection, method II: administration upon infection, and method III: administration after infection) to treat the infectious model in vitro on cells in a laboratory. The anti-viral activity in vivo was performed on BALB/c mice, which were divided to receive EGCG.

Barrett’s esophagus is a condition in which the tissue lining the esophagus—the muscular tube that connects the mouth to the stomach—is replaced by tissue that is similar to the lining of the intestine; a process called intestinal metaplasia.   Researchers from the University of Washington and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, both in Seattle note that Barrett’s esophagus (BE) is a risk factor for esophageal adenocarcinoma. The purpose of undertaking this study was to determine whether consumption of vegetable and fruit could affect the risk of BE.

Researchers from Maastricht University in the Netherlands note that increasing the level of protein in your diet improves satiety and increases the burning of calories. During a 36-hour stay in a respiration chamber, 24 healthy men and women consumed one of 2 diets supplying either 25% or 10% of their total calories from protein with casein being the only protein source. In the 25% diet 25% of calories were from protein, 20% from fat, and 55% from carbohydrate.

Researchers at the Department of Endocrinology, 424 Military Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece state that Teriparatide (TPTD—recombinant human parathyroid hormone 1-34) markedly increases bone mineral density (BMD) and reduces fracture risk. They wanted to test the ability of sequential treatment with an antiresorptive agent to preserve or further increase BMD.   Strontium ranelate (SR) uncouples bone remodeling resulting in increased BMD and reduced fracture risk.