红茶可能有助于防癌

2012-02-14 00:00:00来源：环球网

Drinking tea has a number of health benefits. Now, add one more to the list — a cup of the beverage a day can help slash the risk of developing cancer by shrinking tumors, say researchers.

Previous research has already linked tea's healthy antioxidant properties and high flavonoid content to cutting the risk of some cancers as well as heart disease.

Now, a new study has shown that black tea could help prevent cancer. In the study, US researchers analyzed the compound theaflavin-2 (TF-2), found only in black tea and oolong Chinese tea, which has been shown to kill cancer cells.

The study explored how TF-2 induced cancer cell death and found that it caused such cells to shrink within three hours. When the researchers looked at a specific set of genes that kill cancer cells, TF-2 was found to activate the genes.

The study also showed that TF-2 can suppress the activity of a gene that sparks an inflammatory enzyme known as COX2 while also reducing the activity of other inflammatory molecules, the “Daily Express” reported.

Tim Bond of the Tea Advisory Panel in the UK said: "(The study) has demonstrated that components of black tea can help shrink and kill cancer cells and/or result in helping to reduce the number of tumors."

《印度时报》网站6月19日报道：据研究人员说，喝茶对健康有一系列好处，现在又多了一个好处：一天一杯茶能大幅降低患癌症的风险，它可以使肿瘤缩小。

以前的研究已经表明，茶具有健康的抗氧化性，和高含量的类黄酮，降低了患某些癌症和心脏病的风险。

现在，一项新研究显示，红茶可能有助于防癌。在这项研究中，美国研究人员对仅在红茶和中国乌龙茶中发现的茶黄素-2(TF-2)进行了分析。结果显示它能杀死癌细胞。

研究人员仔细查看了TF-2是如何导致癌细胞死亡的，并发现它能在3小时内使此类细胞缩小。当研究人员看到一组杀死癌细胞的特殊基因时，他们发现是TF-2激活了这组基因。

英国《每日快报》报道，研究还发现TF-2能抑制一种基因的活动，这种基因可激发一种已知名为C O X 2的酶，同时TF-2还能降低其他炎性分子的活动。

英国饮茶顾问小组委员会的蒂姆邦德说：“（研究）表明红茶中的成分有助于缩小并杀死癌细胞，因此有助于减少肿瘤数量。”

本文关键字: 科技英语