Unexpected Toxicity of Green Tea Polyphenols in Combination with the Sambucus RIL Ebulin

Abstract

The safety of concentrated food complements intake is a major health concern. It has been well established that green tea polyphenols (GTPs) consumption promotes healthy effects. However, the ingestion of large amounts of GTPs is a matter of controversy due to reported adverse effects. We underwent a preliminary exploration of the effects of the oral administration of a standardized concentrated GTPs preparation on mice which suffered from reversible intestinal derangement promoted by sublethal amounts of the antiribosomal lectin ebulin f from dwarf elder (Sambucus ebulus L.). Neither independent oral administration of 30 mg/kg body weight Polyphenon 60 nor intraperitoneal administration of 2.5 mg/kg body weight ebulin f triggered lethal toxicity. In contrast, the simultaneous administration of these same doses of both Polyphenon 60 and ebulin f triggered an important and unexpected synergistic toxic action featured by the biphasic reduction of weight, which continued after eight days, reaching a reduction of 40%. Lethality appeared 2 days after the onset of the combined treatment and reached more than 50% after 10 days.

Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG), a Green Tea Polyphenol, Reduces Coronavirus Replication in a Mouse Model

“…In this experiment, we evaluated the mouse intake of EGCG and GTP60 based on daily water consumption and reagent concentration [21]. As the intake amount of EGCG or GTP60 was reasonable, a man weighing 60 kg could obtain an equal amount of EGCG by consuming 600 mg of EGCG.…”

“…EGCG and GTP60 (polyphenon 60; polyphenols from green tea containing more than 60% catechins) were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA). GTP60 contained (-) epicatechin-3-gallate (21.0%), (-) epicatechin (7.3%), (-) epigallocatechin (7.9%), and (-) epigallo-catechin-3-gallate (29.2%) [21].…”

“…Mice were infected with 10 µL of HCoV-OC43 virus (10 7 PFU/mL) through intranasal injection [22]. After infection, 30 mg/kg body weight GTP60 (Polyphenon 60) or 10 mg/kg body weight EGCG were administered daily for 2 weeks via regular drinking bottles to avoid stress exposure resulting from repeated injections [21,23,24]. Water bottles were replaced daily.…”

Senescence-Mediated Redox Imbalance in Liver and Kidney: Antioxidant Rejuvenating Potential of Green Tea Extract

“…However, some reports about the adverse effects of green tea polyphenols have shown that the ingestion of large amounts of green tea polyphenols, especially when the intestinal mucosa is damaged, is a matter of controversy [ 16 , 17 ]. Another study also pointed out that the co-administration of the selenite, an essential trace element, and EGCG resulted in the mortality of treated mice in a dose and time-dependent manner [ 18 ].…”

Adaptogenic Properties of a Phytoecdysteroid-Rich Extract from the Leaves of Spinacia oleracea L.

“…Despite the apparent safety of a plant such as spinach, high concentrations of some plant polyphenols may exhibit toxicological characteristics [35,36]. The available literature describes the few results of studies of LD 50 glycoglycerolipid fractions of spinach extracts in cell cultures in vitro.…”