Epigallocatechin Gallate The Major Causative Agent of Green Tea-Induced Asthma

¹ From the Second Division, Department of Internal Medicine, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Hamamatsu, Japan
² From the Food Research Laboratories, Mitsui Norin Co, Fujieda, Japan

We describe three patients who worked in green tea factories and developed asthmatic and nasal symptoms after exposure to green tea dust. To clarify what component(s) of green tea leaves might be responsible for causing asthma, we prepared catechins, the major components of green tea leaves. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg; MW: 458 daltons), a major catechin, was purified by high-performance liquid chromatography. Subjects included three patients with green tea-induced asthma, five asthmatics with no previous exposure to tea dust, and five healthy controls. It was found that all three patients exhibited an immediate skin and bronchial response to EGCg. Prausnitz-Küstner test with EGCg was also positive. However, none of the asthmatic and healthy controls showed a positive reaction. These results indicate that EGCg is a causative agent of green tea-induced asthma and suggest that an IgE-mediated response is, at least in part, responsible for causing this type of occupational asthma.

Key Words: catechins • causative agent and IgE-mediated • epigallocatechin gallate • green teal-induced asthma • Prausnitz-Küstner test

Submitted on May 7, 1993
Accepted on May 19, 1994