Prevention of Acute Upper Respiratory Infections by Consumption of Catechins in Healthcare Workers: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial

Furushima, Daisuke; Nishimura, Takuma; Takuma, Norikata; Iketani, Ryo; Mizuno, Tomohito; Matsui, Yuji; Yamaguchi, Tohru; Nakashima, Yu; Yamamoto, Shinji; Hibi, Masanobu; Yamada, Hiroshi

doi:10.3390/nu12010004

Cited by 31 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Importantly, green tea catechins are considered as safe by FDA and already have been investigated in experimental studies in relation to some infections. Moreover, results of at least one randomized placebo-controlled study 26 strongly suggest that green tea catechins can protect against acute upper respiratory tract infections (thus, quite likely, infections induced by members of coronavirus family). Therefore, it may be expected that green tea catechins can also protect against the infection induced by SARS-CoV-2.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID -19: could green tea catechins reduce the risks?

Storozhuk

2020

Preprint

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Objectives: Several lines of emerging pharmacological and epidemiological evidence imply that overall risks related to COVID-19 may be reduced by green tea catechins. Therefore, it may be expected that: (i) higher green tea consumption is associated with lower COVID-19 morbidity and/or mortality; (ii) countries with higher per/capita green tea consumption would be less affected by COVID-19. The aim of this study was to assess the second possibility. Study design: This was a cross-sectional study. Methods: Among countries with at least 3 million population (n=134), countries with relatively high (above 150 g) per/capita green tea consumption have been tentatively identified (n=21); (ii) normalized to population values of COVID-19 cases (morbidity) and deaths (mortality) for groups of countries with high and low per/capita green tea consumption were compared. Results: Striking differences in COVID-19 morbidity (and mortality) between groups of countries with higher and lower green tea consumption. The differences were still observed after the adjustment for the onset of the disease. Besides, preliminary analysis using multiple linear regression approach suggests that the associations are present at the level of individual countries. Conclusion: Evidence supporting the idea that green tea constituents could reduce overall risks related to COVID-19 has been obtained. The results are promising and are in line with emerging evidence from other studies including pharmacological ones. Nevertheless, because of limitations of this study the idea still should be considered as a hypothesis requiring further assessment.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID -19: could green tea catechins reduce the risks?

Storozhuk

2020

Preprint

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“…Moreover, the effect of tea consumption especially green tea on the immune system, influenza, and upper respiratory tract infections has been evaluated in previous studies (Furushima et al 2018;Furushima et al 2019;Ide et al 2017). However, there is some controversy about the effect of tea on immunity and influenza or common cold (Furushima et al 2018).…”

Section: Dietary Patternmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationship between physical activity, healthy lifestyle and COVID-19 disease severity; a cross-sectional study

Tavakol

Ghannadi

Tabesh

et al. 2021

J Public Health (Berl.)

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Aim The COVID-19 pandemic is a global health emergency, and therefore the prevention and treatment of this disease is an important priority of world health. In the present study, some risk factors, including unhealthy nutrition, obesity, and physical inactivity, were assessed in patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, and their effects on the severity and duration of disease were evaluated. Subject and methods The present study was a cross-sectional study. Data was collected from all patients who visited the respiratory emergency department from March 20, 2020 to April 24, 2020 in the University Hospital. The outcome measures were body mass index, diet quality that was evaluated with a 16-item food intake questionnaire, and physical activity level that was assessed by the global physical activity questionnaire. Results Two hundred and six patients' data was analyzed. The results investigated that patients with lower levels of physical activity or lower MET.min/week were affected by a more severe form of the disease (p = 0.05 and p = 0.03, respectively). We found that patients with a healthier dietary pattern were affected by lower severity of illness (p < 0.05). Conclusion It seems that increasing levels of physical activity may partly reduce the severity of COVID-19 disease. Some dietary patterns such as increasing fruit and poultry consumption as well as drinking less tea were correlated significantly with a less severe form of the disease. The results did not confirm previous concerns regarding a potentially harmful effect of smoking on the severity or duration of symptoms.

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“…The importance of phytochemicals against viral infections has been assessed. A recent randomised control trial demonstrated the effectiveness of the consumption of catechin-containing beverages for preventing acute upper respiratory tract infections (123) . Additionally, polyphenolic compound use has been suggested to manage influenza infection and its complications (124) .…”

Section: Phenolic Compoundsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutritional status, diet and viral respiratory infections: perspectives for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2

et al. 2020

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COVID-19, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a pandemic in 2020. Host preparation to combat the virus is an important strategy to avoid COVID-19 severity. Thus, the relationship between eating habits, nutritional status, and their effects on the immune response and further implications in viral respiratory infections are important topics discussed in this revision. Malnutrition causes the most diverse alterations in the immune system, suppressing of the immune response and increasing the susceptibility to infections as SARS-CoV-2. On the other hand, obesity induces low-grade chronic inflammation caused by excess adiposity, which increases angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). It decreases the immune response favoring SARS-CoV-2 virulence and promoting respiratory distress syndrome. The present review highlights the importance of food choices considering their inflammatory effects, consequently increasing the viral susceptibility observed in malnutrition and obesity. Healthy eating habits, micronutrients, bioactive compounds, and probiotics are strategies for COVID-19 prevention. Therefore, a diversified and balanced diet can contribute to the improvement of the immune response to viral infections such as COVID-19.

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Prevention of Acute Upper Respiratory Infections by Consumption of Catechins in Healthcare Workers: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial

Cited by 31 publications

References 41 publications

COVID -19: could green tea catechins reduce the risks?

COVID -19: could green tea catechins reduce the risks?

Relationship between physical activity, healthy lifestyle and COVID-19 disease severity; a cross-sectional study

Nutritional status, diet and viral respiratory infections: perspectives for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2

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