Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory disease that causes pain, swelling, stiffness and loss of function in the joints. There is no cure for the disease. Instead, physicians control the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis with pain relievers and anti-inflammatory medications, which in turn slow the damage to the joints.
Green tea contains a type of polyphenol known as epigallocatechin-3 gallate, or EGCG, that inhibits the expression of the interieukin-8 gene. This is a key gene involved in the rheumatoid arthritis-inflammatory response.
Researchers theorize that "more may be better" when it comes to green tea reducing the inflammatory response as EGCG short-circuits the process that leads to inflammation. The researchers found that green tea significantly reduced the severity of rheumatoid arthritis.
The researchers suggest that green tea affects arthritis by causing changes in various arthritis-related immune responses—it suppresses both cytokine IL-17 (an inflammatory substance) and antibodies to Bhsp65 (a disease-related antigen), and increases cytokine IL-10 (an anti-inflammatory substance).
Therefore, they recommend that green tea be further explored as a dietary therapy for use together with conventional treatment for managing Rheumatoid arthritis.
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