Background
the usually benign yeast Candida albicans can sometimes overgrow in the human gastrointestinal
tract to give rise to a complex medical syndrome known as chronic candidiasis, or the yeast
syndrome. Candidiasis can cause a wide variety of symptoms in virtually every system of the body,
with the GI, genitourinary, endocrine, nervous and immune systems being most susceptible.
sometimes, chronic candidiasis can be extremely resistant to treatment. this resistance may be the
result of candida cells aggregating to form a “biofilm.” Microbes form a biofilm in response to
many factors, which may include cellular recognition of specific or non-specific attachment sites
on a surface, nutritional cues or when exposed to a sub-lethal dose of an antibiotic. When
microbial biofilms form, it becomes much more difficult to get rid of the organism and the biofilm
can grow to cause an infection.
Health Benefits of Green Tea Polyphenols
Green tea consumption is associated with a number of health benefits due primarily to its
polyphenol components. these polyphenols have been shown to exert:
• antioxidant effects.
• anti-carcinogenic effects.
• Protection against cardiovascular disease.
• Possible weight loss promoting effects.
• Complex antimicrobial effects.
Green Tea Polyphenols Inhibit Candida Biofilm
the formation of Candida albicans into a biofilm is an important requirement for the development of
candidiasis. Because green tea polyphenols have been shown to exert both antimicrobial and strong
cancer-preventive properties, researchers decided to evaluate their effect on candida biofilm.
Cultures treated with 1.0 micromol/l of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (eGCG), the most abundant
polyphenol of green tea, displayed a 75% reduction of viable cells during candida biofilm
formation. What was really incredible was that established biofilms treated with eGCG were reduced
by 80%. Identical concentrations of other green tea polyphenols (e.g., epigallocatechin and
epicatechin-3-gallate) demonstrated similar biofilm inhibition. additional investigation found the
green tea polyphenols disrupt candida metabolism and structural components.
the significance of this study is extreme as it opens up the possibility that green tea extract may
become an important
adjunct to treatment of health conditions associated with biofilm formation including chronic
candidiasis.
