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Green tea benefit: It can reduce Down's Syndrome facial dysmorphology in children

Green tea benefit: It can reduce Down's Syndrome facial dysmorphology in children
Down syndrome is caused by the presence of a third copy of chromosome 21, which is why this condition is also called trisomy 21. It leads to an overexpression of the genes in this region and this results in a number of physical and intellectual disabilities.

Green tea comes with many benefits. Now a new study says that it can even reduce facial dysmorphology in children with Down's syndrome.

Written by Jahnavi Sarma |Updated : March 5, 2021 10:06 AM IST

We all know that green tea comes with immense health benefits. In fact, scientists keep finding newer benefits of this amazing beverage. Now a new study led by Belgian and Spanish researchers say that they have found evidence about the potential benefits of green tea extracts in Down syndrome. According to them, the intake of green tea extracts can reduce facial dysmorphology in children with Down's syndrome when taken during the first three years of life. They conducted extensive studies on mice to arrive at the conclusion that there are positive effects at low doses. But, at the same time, they also found evidence that high doses of the extract can disrupt facial and bone development. The researchers are in agreement that further research is needed to fully understand the effects of green tea extracts and have cautioned that such extracts must always be taken under medical supervision. Scientific Reports published this study. This study, led by the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and University of Barcelona in Spain and KU Leuven in Belgium, is an international effort involving researchers from University of Central Florida, La Salle -- University Ramon Llull, and IMIM -- Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute.

Green tea extract inhibits activity of faulty gene

Down's syndrome is caused by the presence of a third copy of chromosome 21, which is why this condition is also called trisomy 21. It leads to an overexpression of the genes in this region and this results in a number of physical and intellectual disabilities. One of the genes, DYRK1A, contributes to altering brain and bone development in people with Down's syndrome. Researchers say that a green tea compound, EGCG (epigallocatechin-3-gallate), inhibits DYRK1A activity, although it also has other mechanisms of action. Earlier studies have shown that EGCG can improve cognition in young adults with Down's syndrome.

Experts saw 60 per cent efficacy with low dose

For the purpose of this new study, researchers studied the effect of green tea supplements on facial development in children with Down's syndrome. They conducted this study in two parts. In the first part of the study, they tested the EGCG supplements in mice at different dosages. In the second part of the study, researchers did an observational study on children with and without Down's syndrome. The first part of the study was carried out at KU Leuven, where researchers started the treatment before birth, while the pups were developing in the wombs of their mothers, by adding either a low or a high dose of green tea extracts to their drinking water. The low dose treatment had a positive effect on mice that are a model of Down's syndrome and 60 per cent of them showed a facial shape similar to the control group.

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High dose treatment disrupted normal facial development

The high dose treatment, on the other hand, generated mixed results. In some cases, researchers saw that it even disrupted normal facial development, causing additional dysmorphology. This occurred in all mice, in the model of Down's syndrome as well as in the control group.

Study on children proves that green tea extracts help

The second part of the study was set up in Spain and also included participants from North America. In total, 287 children between 0 and 18 years participated. This included children with Down's syndrome who did (n = 13) or didn't (n = 63) receive EGCG supplementation. The treated group were all self-medicated and didn't follow a prescribed protocol, said researchers. All participants were photographed from different angles to create a 3D model of their faces.

Researchers used 21 facial landmarks, and the distances between them, to compare the faces of the participants. In the youngest group between 0 and 3 years, they observed that 57 per cent of the linear distances are significantly different when compared to the faces of children with Down syndrome that never received green tea extract to those of children that do not have Down syndrome. For babies and toddlers who did receive EGCG treatment, this difference was 25 per cent. After green tea supplementation, the facial dysmorphology decreases and the children with or without Down syndrome look more alike.

Study on adolescents show treatment works only in early stage of life

However, researchers were unable to identify a similar effect in the adolescent group. In this group, even when treated with green tea extracts, children with Down syndrome still show a difference of more than 50 per cent compared to the control group. These findings suggest that the green tea supplements only affect facial development when they are administered in the early stages of life when the face and skull are rapidly growing.

(With inputs from Agencies)