Jan 16, 2007
Antibiotics from green tea
Researchers from Slovenia have used spectroscopy to home in on the active site of an essential bacterial enzyme, DNA gyrase. They say they now understand more clearly how a compound found in green tea, EGCG, which is a health-boosting antioxidant, works to kill bacteria.
The findings should allow researchers to design new, synthetic versions of EGCG that improve on its activity without side effects.
“I think that this direction is worth pursuing,” team leader Roman Jerala told me, “EGCG besides being unpatentable is not very stable in the body and has low bioavailability but this could be improved.” In their paper, the researchers discuss several possible research directions, however Jerala concedes that he and his colleagues lack the synthetic capabilities to pursue them. “We could only go in this direction with support from other labs,” he says, “Hopefully pharmaceutical companies will consider it.”
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Bryan Baker said,
February 22, 2007 at 6:50 pm
EGCG…I’d like to see more posts on this when you have time. Very interesting topic, and it could just be the motivation I need to start drinking more green tea.
Unstable in the body? How so? Ahhh you posts are so interesting…I need to go to class!
David Bradley said,
February 23, 2007 at 1:39 pm
I wrote about EGCG almost ten years ago (I don’t recall if that was the first time) but you might like to read the December 1997 issue of the old Elemental Discoveries webzine. Item entitled green tea against cancer.