Green tea polyphenol epigallocatechin-3-gallate inhibits the IL-1 beta-induced activity and expression of cyclooxygenase-2 and nitric oxide synthase-2 in human chondrocytes

Ahmed S, Rahman A, Hasnain A, Lalonde M, Goldberg VM, Haqqi TM · Free Radical Biology & Medicine

The founding chondrocyte result for green tea, and still the most cited: EGCG suppressed both the activity and the expression of COX-2 and iNOS-2 in human chondrocytes.

Population

Human chondrocytes stimulated with IL-1β

Intervention

Epigallocatechin-3-gallate

Comparator

IL-1β alone

Limitations

Cell culture at concentrations far above anything reached by drinking tea; the paper predates the pharmacokinetic literature that made that gap visible.