Original article: Hang, L., Basil, A. H., & Lim, K. L. (2016). Nutraceuticals in Parkinson’s disease. NeuroMolecular Medicine, 18(3), 306-321.
Review:
Main point:
A component of green tea, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), confers neuroprotection in Parkinson’s disease (PD) via its ability to activate AMP kinase.
Authors suggest its beneficial effects in PD are possibly due to enhancing mitochondrial quality control.
What this means:
EGCG, which can induce liver toxicity in doses of 8oo mg per day, but appears to be safe at around 300-400 mg per day, can penetrate the blood-bran barrier, activate the enzyme AMP kinase, which plays a role in cellular energy homeostasis largely to activate glucose and fatty acid uptake and oxidation when cellular energy is low, and can also influence programmed cell death – apoptosis- which is both healthy and necessary, with the adult human body losing 50 to 70 billion cells per day due to apoptosis.