Planta Med 2013; 79 - PJ51
DOI: 10.1055/s-0033-1352255

Traditional Japanese “Maccha” type green tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze) from Uji for metabolic syndrome therapy: An open-label clinical pilot study

E Watanabe 1, K Kuchta 2, HW Rauwald 3, T Kamei 4, J Imanishi 5
  • 1Department of Immunology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kawaramachi-Hirokoji, Kamikyo, Kyoto 602 – 8566 Japan
  • 2Education and Research Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Sanyo Gakuen University, 1 – 14 – 1 Hirai, Naka-ku, Okayama 703 – 8501 Japan
  • 3Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Leipzig University, Johannisallee 21 – 23, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
  • 4Center for Industry, University and Government Cooperation, Nagasaki University, 1 – 14 Bunkyo, Nagasaki 852 – 8521 Japan
  • 5MUIM Center for Integrative Medicine, Meiji University of Integrative Medicine, 2 – 4 Higashi-Sakaidani-cho, Ooharano, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto 610 – 1143 Japan

Green tea is a classical cultural asset of Japan, with Maccha (抹茶) – extremely fine powdered dried leaves that are drunk as a suspension in hot water – being one of its most refined forms. It is today consumed worldwide for its general health effects which are mainly attributed to its prominent phenolics, e.g. epigallocatechin gallate. Its alleged activity against the metabolic syndrome and obesity was met with a lot of attention in recent years as their spread in the industrialised world has become a serious public health concern. In the present study, 10 volunteers (7 male, 3 female) with metabolic syndrome took Maccha from the traditional Japanese tea cultivation centre in Uji near Kyoto which was formed into tablets of 1 g each. Treatment consisted of 3 times 5 tablets, corresponding to 15 g of Maccha every day during a time frame of 60 days. Before and after the trial, waist circumference, body weight, blood pressure, and the amount of body fat were measured together with physiological parameters from the biochemical analysis of blood and urine samples. At the end of therapy, low-density lipoprotein (LDP) (p = 0.026), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (p = 0.035), lactate dehydrogenate (LDH) (p < 0.001), total protein (TP) (p = 0.007), globulin (p = 0.021), and platelets (p = 0.002) were increased, while mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) (p = 0.001) was decreased throughout the patient collective. Five of the male patients lost weight during the treatment. In this population, the physiological values for ALP (p = 0.011), LDH (p = 0.012), TP (p = 0.034), globulin (p = 0.022), and platelets (p = 0.002) were significantly increased, whereas those for uric acid (UA) (p = 0.022), albumin/globulin (A/G) ratio (p = 0.025), and MCH (p = 0.001) were decreased. In consequence, long term intake of Maccha can improve TP, globulin, and cholesterol values, thus enhancing energy and fat metabolism, important for the prevention of arteriosclerosis.