Effects of green tea intake on the development of coronary artery disease.
BACKGROUND
Green tea, a popular beverage in Japan, contains many polyphenolic antioxidants, which might prevent atherosclerosis. This study was designed to determine whether the consumption of green tea is proportionately associated with a decreased incidence of coronary artery disease (CAD) and the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular prognosis.


RESULTS
The study group comprised 203 patients who underwent coronary angiography (109 patients with significant coronary stenosis and 94 patients without). Predictors for CAD were analyzed and the patients' cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events were followed. Green tea consumption was significantly higher in patients without CAD than in those with CAD (5.9+/-0.5 vs 3.5+/-0.3 cups/day; p<0.001). An inverse relationship between the intake of green tea and the incidence of CAD was observed (p<0.001). The green tea intake per day was an independent predictor for CAD based on a multivariate logistic regression analysis (odds ratio: 0.84 and 95% confidence interval: 0.76-0.91). In contrast, the green tea intake was not a predictor of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events based on the Cox proportional hazard model.


CONCLUSIONS
Green tea consumption was associated with a lower incidence of CAD in the present study population in Japan. Therefore, the more green tea patients consume, the less likely they are to have CAD.
Sano
Junko
J
Department of Medicine, Chiba Hokusoh Hospital, Nippon Medical School, Chiba, Japan. sano-123@nms.ac.jp
Inami
Shigenobu
S
Seimiya
Koji
K
Ohba
Takayoshi
T
Sakai
Shunta
S
Takano
Teruo
T
Mizuno
Kyoichi
K
D001628:Beverages; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors; D013662:Tea
D008055:Lipids; D010936:Plant Extracts; D013662:Tea