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Health Related Forums => Health News and Events => Topic started by: dr-awale on May 23, 2009, 07:32:59 PM

Title: Green Tea Chemical Shows Potential As Low-Cost Intervention Against Sexual HIV T
Post by: dr-awale on May 23, 2009, 07:32:59 PM

A chemical found in green tea might be an effective tool against the sexual transmission of HIV, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Heidelberg in Germany and published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, AFP/Google.com reports.

According to the study, green tea polyphenol -- called epigallocatechin-3-gallete, or EGCG -- neutralizes a protein in sperm that aids in the transmission of HIV during sex. The researchers noted that they "recently identified a peptide fraction in human semen that consistently enhanced HIV-1 infection." The study found that EGCG is able to neutralize the sperm protein, known as a semen-derived enhancer of virus infection, or SEVI. The researchers said that SEVI is "an important infectivity factor of HIV."
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/151084.php (http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/151084.php)