Evidence of similar protective effects afforded by white tea and its active component 'EGCG' on oxidative-stress mediated hepatic dysfunction during benzo(a)pyrene induced toxicity.

The present study was conducted to unravel the comparative efficacy of White Tea (WT) and Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) in affording protection against benzo (a) pyrene (BaP) induced hepatotoxicity. The animals were randomly divided into six groups viz., normal control (NC), BaP, EGCG, WT, WT + BaP and EGCG + BaP treated. 50 mg/kg of BaP was given orally twice a week for 4 weeks. WT extract (1%) and EGCG (1% WT equivalent) were given on alternate days for 12 weeks (4 weeks prior, during and after BaP treatment). BaP treated animals showed a significant increase in the activities of biomarkers in conditions of inflammatory, oxidative and liver stress. However, the levels of these biomarkers were decreased appreciably upon treatment with WT and EGCG. Interestingly, no marked differences in these indices were experienced in animals treated with either EGCG or WT. Further, BaP treatment decreased significantly the amount of endogenous antioxidants which however were increased substantially when WT and EGCG were supplemented to BaP treated animals. BaP induced hepatic histoarchitectural alterations also showed an appreciable improvement when these animals were supplemented with WT or EGCG. The present study thus recommends the usefulness of WT extract vis-a -vis EGCG in mitigating BaP induced hepatic dysfunctions.