Thank you for your post, Ironjustice

Here's from earlier studies we posted before.
From Health Lover, Ilena Rosenthal.
http://ilenarose.blogspot.com

Anti-Cancer Compound in Green Tea Identified
Tue Mar 15, 2005 12:13 AM ET

By Patricia Reaney
LONDON (Reuters) - Spanish and British scientists have discovered how
green tea helps to prevent certain types of cancer.

Researchers at the University of Murcia in Spain (UMU) and the John
Innes Center (JIC) in Norwich, England have shown that a compound
called EGCG in green tea prevents cancer cells from growing by binding
to a specific enzyme.

"We have shown for the first time that EGCG, which is present in green
tea at relatively high concentrations, inhibits the enzyme
dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), which is a recognized, established
target for anti-cancer drugs, " Professor Roger Thorneley, of JIC,
told Reuters.

"This is the first time, to our knowledge, a known target for an
anti-cancer drug has been identified as being inhibited by EGCG," he
added.

Green tea has about five times as much EGCG as regular tea, studies
have shown. It decreased rates of certain cancers but scientists were
not sure what compounds were involved or how they worked. Nor had they
determined how much green tea a person would have to drink to have a
beneficial effect, he said.

Thorneley said EGCG is probably just one of a number of anti-cancer
mechanisms in green tea.

"We have identified this enzyme in tumour cells that EGCG targets and
understand how it stops this enzyme from making DNA. This means we may
be able to develop new anti-cancer drugs based on the structure of the
EGCG molecule," Thorneley explained.

The scientists decided to look at ECGC after they realized its
structure was similar to a cancer drug called methotrexate.

"We discovered that EGCG can kill cancer cells in the same way as
methotrexate," Dr Jose Neptuno Rodriguez-Lopez, of UMU, a joint author
of the research published in the journal Cancer Research.

EGCG binds strongly to DHFR, which is essential in both healthy and
cancerous cells. But it does not bind as tightly as methotrexate, so
its side effects on healthy cells could be less severe than those of
the drug.

Thorneley said EGCG could be a lead compound for new anti-cancer
drugs.

The findings could also explain why women who drink large amounts of
green tea around the time they conceive and early in their pregnancy
may have an increased risk of having a child with spina bifida or
other neural tube disorders.

Women are advised to take supplements of folic acid because it
protects against spina bifida. But large amounts of green tea could
decrease the effectiveness of folic acid.

"This enzyme, (DHFR), is the one folic acid supplements are given for.
Folic acid deficiency leads to neural tube development defects,"
Thorneley added.