Green tea component might fight sepsis

MANHASSET, N.Y., Nov. 8 (UPI) -- A U.S. study suggested a component of green tea might be useful in treating severe sepsis -- an abnormal immune system response to a bacterial infection.

Haichao Wang and colleagues at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research studied the therapeutic effects of dozens of Chinese herbal compounds in reversing sepsis, which kills 225,000 people in the United States annually.

In a mouse study, the scientists found a green tea extract -- EGCG -- caused survival rates of mice suffering sepsis increased from 53 percent in those not receiving EGCG to 82 percent in those that did.

"Clinically, even if we could save 5 percent of patients, that would be huge," said Wang. "In this study, we saved 25 percent more animals with the green tea."

The researchers said their findings could pave the way for clinical trials.

The study, conducted in collaboration with Wei Li and Dr. Andrew Sama chairman of emergency medicine at North Shore University Hospital, appears in the online journal PLoS One.