Khan Naghma, Mukhtar Hasan
Department of Dermatology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Medical Sciences Center, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
Life Sci. 2007 Jul 26;81(7):519-33. doi: 10.1016/j.lfs.2007.06.011. Epub 2007 Jun 28.
People have been consuming brewed tea from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant for almost 50 centuries. Although health benefits have been attributed to tea, especially green tea consumption since the beginning of its history, scientific investigations of this beverage and its constituents have been underway for less than three decades. Currently, tea, in the form of green or black tea, next to water, is the most widely consumed beverage in the world. In vitro and animal studies provide strong evidence that polyphenols derived from tea may possess the bioactivity to affect the pathogenesis of several chronic diseases. Among all tea polyphenols, epigallocatechin-3-gallate has been shown to be responsible for much of the health promoting ability of green tea. Tea and tea preparations have been shown to inhibit tumorigenesis in a variety of animal models of carcinogenesis. However, with increasing interest in the health promoting properties of tea and a significant rise in scientific investigation, this review covers recent findings on the medicinal properties and health benefits of tea with special reference to cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
人们饮用由茶树叶子泡制的茶已有近5000年的历史。尽管自茶诞生之初，人们就认为茶，尤其是绿茶对健康有益，但对这种饮品及其成分的科学研究至今还不到30年。目前，除了水之外，绿茶或红茶形式的茶是世界上消费最为广泛的饮品。体外研究和动物研究提供了有力证据，表明茶中的多酚类物质可能具有影响几种慢性疾病发病机制的生物活性。在所有茶多酚中，表没食子儿茶素没食子酸酯已被证明是绿茶诸多健康促进能力的关键所在。在多种致癌动物模型中，茶及茶制品已被证明具有抑制肿瘤发生的作用。然而，随着人们对茶的健康促进特性的兴趣日益浓厚以及科学研究的显著增加，本综述涵盖了茶的药用特性和健康益处的最新研究成果，特别提及了癌症和心血管疾病。
