EGCG, a compound found within green tea, suppresses inflammation in osteomyelitis treatment. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Epigallocatechin gallate suppresses expression of receptor activator of NF-kappaB ligand (RANKL) in Staphylococcus aureus infection in osteoblast-like NRG cells.
J Med Microbiol. 2007 Aug;56(Pt 8):1042-6. PMID: 17644710
Catechin, a constituent of tea, possesses various bioactivities. In particular, the most abundant catechin in tea is epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg), which has an anti-inflammatory effect. In the present study, the usability of EGCg for osteomyelitis treatment was examined. Osteomyelitis is a difficult disease to cure, partly due to bone lysis caused by infected osteoblasts. Since bone lysis is promoted by proinflammatory cytokines and the receptor activator of NF-kappaB ligand (RANKL), osteoblasts were infected with Staphylococcus aureus and the effect of EGCg on the production of cytokines was examined. It was found that the production of interleukin 6 and RANKL was suppressed in the osteoblasts treated with EGCg, which indicated an inflammation suppression effect of EGCg in osteomyelitis treatment.