Uterine fibroid disease is difficult to treat, but a compound found in tea might be of help. Researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine report growing evidence that the epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) present in green tea may reduce fibroid cell growth by as much as 86%. EGCG is a type of catechin that has powerful antioxidant effects and other potential benefits.
The pre-clinical, proof-of-concept cell growth study using human fibroid cells was published in peer-reviewed Scientific Reports. The laboratory study was designed to identify biochemical mechanisms inhibiting fibroid growth. Fibroids are small, benign, non-cancerous tumors that grow on the surface of the uterus.
“The purpose of this study was to examine how EGCG works to treat and prevent uterine fibroids," wrote James Segars Jr., M.D., professor of gynecology and obstetrics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "There is no standard protocol for uterine fibroid disease management or prevention and no tools to prevent their growth, so finding a safe, nonsurgical therapy is important."
Fibroids are the most common benign tumors of the uterus, occurring in 20-40% of women through their reproductive ages. Fibroids are composed of muscle cells with a mass of connective tissue.
Medical Life Sciences News wrote that an estimated 77% of white and 80% of black women will develop fibroids in their lifetime, most of them by age 50. Black and Hispanic women develop fibroids at 1.5 to 2 times the rate of white women.
Many people with uterine fibroids are without symptom, but about 25% experience heavy bleeding, pelvic pain, and infertility. The annual cost of fibroid management is estimated to be between $6 billion and $34 billion in the United States alone.
Researchers found that EGCG reduced fibronectin protein levels by 46% to 52% in treated samples compared with an untreated control group of fibroid cells. They also found that EGCG disrupted pathways involved in fibroid tumor cell growth, movement, signaling, and metabolism, and they saw up to an 86% decrease in connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) proteins compared with the control group.
Lead author Dr. Soriful Islam, Ph.D., M.Sc., a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, writes, “The results from this study show that EGCG targets many signaling pathways involved in the growth of fibroids, particularly the extracellular matrix. EGCG supplements could be a readily available and natural way to relieve symptoms and slow fibroid growth.”
Uterine fibroids are the leading cause of hospitalization hysterectomy in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Source: Scientific reports
Md Soriful Islam et al., Targeting fibrotic signaling pathways with EGCG as a therapeutic strategy for uterine fibroids, Scientific Reports (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-35212-6