HIV Digest	HIV Digest Archive

In a new study, scientists report that test-tube experiments show a component in green tea blocks the ability of HIV to invade and destroy cells of the immune system. That component is epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). The flavonoid has anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties, and cancer drugs based on it are now in clinical trials.

Researchers have known for some time that EGCG inhibits HIV in lab experiments; the new research suggests how. Scientists from Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Sheffield have found that the EGCG molecule binds to the T-cell receptor site at which HIV seeks to attach to the cell.

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One of the promising factors is that because this is a small molecule and binds to the same exact binding pocket as gp120, it may not inhibit the [normal] function of the CD4 molecule," said Dr. Christina Nance of Baylor and Texas Children's Hospital. In the laboratory, Nance said the amount of EGCG needed to inhibit HIV was about the same as that in two cups of green tea. She stressed, however, that any EGCG-based drug "would be part of a cocktail of drugs," and she said she does not recommend that people drink large amounts of green tea in the hope of preventing HIV infection.

Editor's Note: from the Houston Chronicle