Abstract The central nervous, endocrine, and immune systems interact at several
levels, including cell surface and intracellular molecules as well as compounds facilitating
intercellular communication. Molecules produced by components of the
immune system, such as reactive oxygen and nitrogen species and some cytokines
secreted by brain microglia, may induce disorders of the nervous and endocrine
systems if present in excess.
Pathologic conditions of these three systems, including neurodegenerative diseases, anxiety, memory loss, ischemia, multiple sclerosis, alterations in weight and metabolism, diseases of insulin dysregulation, and several autoimmune disorders, have several common themes such as changes in iron/Ca+2 levels, altered proteosomal activity, mitochondrial dysfunction, and activation of the caspase cascade, leading to apoptosis.
The green tea polyphenol epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) has beneficial activity in a number of human diseases. It mitigates some of the above-listed damage in part by altering intracellular signal transduction pathways, by scavenging reactive oxygen and nitrogen species and iron, and by affecting cytokine production and expression of neurotransmitters or their receptors.
This chapter presents these activities of EGCG and how they affect diseases of these
related physiological systems.
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