Oxidative Stress Reduced by a Green Tea Concentrate and Capsicum Combination: Synergistic Effects

Abstract

ABSTRACTReactive oxygen species that are produced by aerobic metabolism and signaling cascades have the potential to play important roles in maintaining homeostatic redox and cell proliferation. When the balance between the production and elimination of reactive oxygen species is perturbed toward production, the result is oxidative stress. High levels of oxidative stress are a general characteristic of cancer. The altered redox state within a tumor microenvironment confers a growth advantage through increased proliferation rates, evasion of apoptosis, and increased resistance to therapeutic compounds. We have tested a synergistic combination of green tea—Camellia sinensis—concentrate and powdered Capsicum powder (TeaFense™/Capsol-T™) as a dietary supplement to reduce oxidative stress as an approach to elimination of malignant cells. Here, we demonstrate that the green tea-powdered Capsicum mixture effectively reduces levels of oxidative stress in both cancer (HeLa) and noncancer (MCF-10A) cells as determined from measurements of levels of the oxidative stress indicator Nrf-2 by western blot analysis. Nrf-2 is a transcription factor that controls an antioxidant response element. Increased expression of Nrf-2 is linked to high levels of oxidative stress and vice versa. Based on levels of Nrf-2, the mixture of green tea concentrate plus powdered Capsicum reduced oxidative stress by more than 50% compared with 15% by the green tea concentrate alone.