| Popis: |
Several compounds commonly occurring in the environment induce genotoxic stress through DNA damage, ultimately culminating in different diseases, and are known as mutagens. Tea and tea polyphenols are known to provide protection from the effects of such compounds, as demonstrated by several studies. The Ames test, a very fast, sensitive assay system that generally uses different strains of Salmonella typhimurium (mutant for histidine synthesis) to detect the mutagenic activity of a given chemical, has been widely used to study the antimutagenic potential of polyphenols derived from tea. It has been found that most tea polyphenols show antimutagenic activity against a wide range of mutagens. Although tea compounds are found to exert a direct protective effect against relatively few mutagens, they are much more potent against several more genotoxic compounds in the presence of mammalian liver enzymes. Taken together, all these studies suggest that tea polyphenols are potential antimutagenic compounds, which can be used to inhibit the activation of many mutagens in our bodies. |
