According to research from Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital, a chemical naturally found in green tea, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), might help prevent HIV infection. Green tea is already popular due to its antioxidant properties. From the Houston Business Journal:

In previous studies, Dr. Christina Nance, assistant professor of pediatrics at BCM, and Dr. William Shearer, professor of pediatrics at BCM, had demonstrated that epigallocatechin gallate — EGCG — found in green tea, inhibited infection in a specific HIV-1 strain.

The latest discovery shows EGCG can inhibit infection in multiple HIV-1 strains.

“This is paramount from a global aspect,” Nance said. “Most initial studies with HIV-1 in the Americas are based on subtype B.” However, she added, most of the world is infected with other strains.

“EGCG may represent a potential low-cost inhibitor of global HIV-1 infection that could be used at least as adjunctive anti-HIV therapy,” said Nance and Shearer in their report.

Previous drugs developed to block the entry of HIV-1 into cells proved ineffective because the virus mutated. Nance hopes that EGCG, derived from a natural product, will be less likely to generate such mutations

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