Going Green: The Role of the Green Tea Component EGCG in Chemoprevention

Abstract

Tea is one of the most consumed beverages worldwide, and green tea is the least processed from the buds of the <i>Camellia sinensis</i> plant. The most abundant component of green tea is (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), which has been the focus of many cell culture, animal and clinical trials, revealing that EGCG possesses antiproliferative, antimutagenic, antioxidant, antibacterial, antiviral and chemopreventive effects. In this review we briefly summarize the mechanism of action(s) of the green tea component EGCG, highlighting recent advances in the epigenetic regulation by EGCG. Additionally, we provide an overview of mouse chemoprevention studies and EGCG chemoprevention clinical trials.