COVID -19: could green tea catechins reduce the risks?

Abstract

Objectives: Several lines of emerging pharmacological and epidemiological evidence imply that overall risks related to COVID-19 may be reduced by green tea catechins. Therefore, it may be expected that: (i) higher green tea consumption is associated with lower COVID-19 morbidity and/or mortality; (ii) countries with higher per/capita green tea consumption would be less affected by COVID-19. The aim of this study was to assess the second possibility. Study design: This was a cross-sectional study. Methods: Among countries with at least 3 million population (n=134), countries with relatively high (above 150 g) per/capita green tea consumption have been tentatively identified (n=21); (ii) normalized to population values of COVID-19 cases (morbidity) and deaths (mortality) for groups of countries with high and low per/capita green tea consumption were compared. Results: Striking differences in COVID-19 morbidity (and mortality) between groups of countries with higher and lower green tea consumption. The differences were still observed after the adjustment for the onset of the disease. Besides, preliminary analysis using multiple linear regression approach suggests that the associations are present at the level of individual countries. Conclusion: Evidence supporting the idea that green tea constituents could reduce overall risks related to COVID-19 has been obtained. The results are promising and are in line with emerging evidence from other studies including pharmacological ones. Nevertheless, because of limitations of this study the idea still should be considered as a hypothesis requiring further assessment.

Therapeutic Potential of EGCG, a Green Tea Polyphenol, for Treatment of Coronavirus Diseases

“…In addition, coronavirus polyproteins contain 11 cleavage sites, and a lower concentration can be effective in treating coronavirus diseases [ 43 ]. Likewise, a preliminary statistical study suggested that green tea consumption could reduce the overall risk of coronavirus [ 12 ]. These results collectively support the idea that EGCG is potentially effective for the treatment of coronavirus diseases.…”

“…In addition, an epidemiological study would be useful for examining the effects of EGCG or green tea on coronavirus diseases. Although preliminary statistical results are available, the results of epidemiological studies, such as the correlation between personal green tea consumption and the risk of developing coronavirus disease, can be evaluated to determine the effects of green tea on coronavirus [ 12 ]. We expect that more researchers will become interested in EGCG and perform extensive research to confirm the therapeutic effects of EGCG on coronavirus diseases.…”

“…Recently, one study examined the relationship between green tea consumption and overall COVID-19 risk, including morbidity and mortality [ 12 ]. Although there were huge socioeconomic differences among study participants, increased green tea consumption resulted in significantly low COVID-19 morbidity and mortality [ 12 ]. Because this preliminary epidemiological study used publicly available statistical data, we also obtained comparable results by analyzing similar datasets.…”

Possible Therapeutic Use of Natural Compounds Against COVID-19

“…Negatively regulates mTOR signaling pathways [192,194,195] Autophagy inducer [194,255] Potential antiinflammatory [183,185,187,189] Potential target against COVID-19 and Proposed as previfenon (NCT04446065) [186,[256][257][258] +++…”

Entry-inhibitory role of catechins against SARS-CoV-2 and its UK variant

“…These molecules have shown to exhibit strong immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, anti-proliferative, and anti-cancer properties [ [17] , [18] , [19] ]. Several catechins have been reported to be effective against viral infections including HIV, Hepatitis B and C, influenza, chikungunya, adenovirus, Ebola, and gastroenteritis coronavirus [ [20] , [21] , [22] , [23] , [24] , [25] ] and recently against the SARS-CoV-2 [ 26 , 27 ]. There are several reports that show the entry inhibiting activity of catechins in viruses like HIV, HSV, Influenza, etc.…”