Chemicals in green tea leaves and cocoa seeds help regenerate the brain with neurocognitive damage in HIV patients, US researchers say.
According to scientists from Johns Hopkins University (USA), epicatechins – plant polyphenols found naturally in green tea and cocoa seeds – can help rebuild damaged parts of the brain and even prevent neurological complications by stimulating the body to produce BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) protein. – a neurotrophic factor of brain origin), which is responsible for the survival and formation of neurons in the brain, in areas associated with learning, memory and complex thought processes.
The results of the study, which hold promise for successful treatment of HIV-infected neurological lesions, have been published in the Journal of NeuroVirology.
The health benefits of catechins have been known for a long time, but it has only now been discovered that they can cross the blood-brain barrier and influence the production of the BDNF protein.
Perhaps thanks to this, it will be possible to develop new methods of treating neurocognitive damage in patients with HIV virus, in which the amount of BDNF proteins is lower than in healthy people.
Due to their simpler structure and more effective possibilities to cross the blood-brain barrier, epicatechins may be the best candidates for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. It also involves cognitive impairment related to the presence of HIV, the authors of the study conclude. (PAP)
ooo/ agt/