EFFECT OF GREEN AND BLACK TEA SUPPLEMENTATION ON LIPIDS, LIPID OXIDATION AND FIBRINOGEN IN THE HAMSTER - MECHANISMS FOR THE EPIDEMIOLOGIC BENEFITS OF TEA DRINKING

There is considerable epidemiological evidence that tea drinking loner s the risk of heart disease. However, the mechanism by which tea can b e protective is unknown. Hamsters were fed a normal or high cholestero l diet for 2 weeks and drank green or black tea ad libitum, The plasma lipid profile was significantly improved by both teas compared to con trols. Also in vivo lipid oxidation as measured by plasma lipid peroxi des and LDL+VLDL oxidizability mere significantly decreased by the tea s, In the normal fed tea groups fibrinogen was decreased but not in th e high cholesterol groups. Green tea was significantly more effective than the black tea. These results show in the hamster model that black and green tea improve the risk factors for heart disease by both hypo lipemic and antioxidant mechanisms and possibly a fibrinolytic effect, (C) 1998 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.