kebaldwin
Fri, Aug-10-07, 12:43
Green tea may be effective against inflammatory skin conditions
The August 18, 2007 edition of Experimental Dermatology published a report that described the finding of researchers at the Medical College of Georgia that green tea could be effective when applied topically to skin afflicted by inflammatory disorders such as psoriasis and dandruff.
"Psoriasis, an autoimmune disease, causes the skin to become thicker because the growth of skin cells is out of control," explained lead researcher Dr Stephen Hsu, who is an oral biologist at the Medical College of Georgia's School of Dentistry and Maxillofacial Pathology. "In psoriasis, immune cells, which usually protect against infection, instead trigger the release of cytokines, which causes inflammation and the overproduction of skin cells."
In the current study, Dr Hsu and colleagues explore the molecular pathways influenced by green tea extract in an animal model of inflammatory skin disease. They discovered that green tea regulates the expression of a protein known as caspase-14 which controls the skin cells' life cycle. "That marker guides cells by telling them when to differentiate, die off and form a skin barrier," Dr Hsu stated. "In people with psoriasis, that process is interrupted and the skin cells don't die before more are created and the resulting lesions form."
Dr Shu hopes that his team's research with green tea will contribute to a treatment that has less side effects than current treatments for inflammatory skin conditions. "The traditional treatment of ultraviolet light and medication, while it can control the lesions and be used long term, may cause squamous cell carcinoma – the second most common form of skin cancer," he said. "Some of the most effective anti-dandruff shampoos also have carcinogens in them. While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allows that in small amounts, the bottom line is that we don't know the long-term effects of using those products continuously."
—D Dye
http://www.lef.org/whatshot/index.html#gtmb
The August 18, 2007 edition of Experimental Dermatology published a report that described the finding of researchers at the Medical College of Georgia that green tea could be effective when applied topically to skin afflicted by inflammatory disorders such as psoriasis and dandruff.
"Psoriasis, an autoimmune disease, causes the skin to become thicker because the growth of skin cells is out of control," explained lead researcher Dr Stephen Hsu, who is an oral biologist at the Medical College of Georgia's School of Dentistry and Maxillofacial Pathology. "In psoriasis, immune cells, which usually protect against infection, instead trigger the release of cytokines, which causes inflammation and the overproduction of skin cells."
In the current study, Dr Hsu and colleagues explore the molecular pathways influenced by green tea extract in an animal model of inflammatory skin disease. They discovered that green tea regulates the expression of a protein known as caspase-14 which controls the skin cells' life cycle. "That marker guides cells by telling them when to differentiate, die off and form a skin barrier," Dr Hsu stated. "In people with psoriasis, that process is interrupted and the skin cells don't die before more are created and the resulting lesions form."
Dr Shu hopes that his team's research with green tea will contribute to a treatment that has less side effects than current treatments for inflammatory skin conditions. "The traditional treatment of ultraviolet light and medication, while it can control the lesions and be used long term, may cause squamous cell carcinoma – the second most common form of skin cancer," he said. "Some of the most effective anti-dandruff shampoos also have carcinogens in them. While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allows that in small amounts, the bottom line is that we don't know the long-term effects of using those products continuously."
—D Dye
http://www.lef.org/whatshot/index.html#gtmb