Doug,
Simple dumb question: Is rooibos tea something that is sold in stores? I
never heard of it.
I do like the CNS protection report though.
In <86ic5b$pu4$2 at sylvester.vcn.bc.ca>, the exalted oberon at vcn.bc.ca Doug
Skrecky opined:
> Subject: possible biostasis with rooibos tea?
> From: Doug Skrecky <oberon at vcn.bc.ca>
> Newsgroups: sci.life-extension, bionet.molbio.ageing
>> Citations: 1-2
> <1>
> Authors
> Lamosova D. Jurani M. Greksak M. Nakano M. Vanekova M.
> Institution
> Institute of Animal Biochemistry and Genetics, Slovak Academy of Sciences,
> Ivanka pri Dunaji, Slovakia. LAMOSOVA at UBGZ.SAVBA.SK> Title
> Effect of Rooibos tea (Aspalathus linearis) on chick
> skeletal muscle cell growth in culture.
> Source
> Comparative Biochemistry & Physiology. Part C Pharmacology, Toxicology,
> Endocrinology. 116(1):39-45, 1997 Jan.
> Abstract
> Rooibos tea (RT) extract contains natural antioxidants and
> scavenging agents. We investigated the effects of different concentrations of
> RT extract in medium on growth and changes of growth parameters of cultured
> chick embryonic skeletal muscle cells. Presence of 2, 10 and 100% of RT
> extract in the culture of primary cells significantly inhibited cell
> proliferation. The inhibition of cell growth reflected on decreased DNA, RNA
> and protein contents in primary cell culture and fibroblasts and myoblasts.
> The ability of the primary cells, fibroblasts and myoblasts to synthesize DNA
> and protein in the presence of RT extract, measured as an amount of
> [3H]thymidine and [3H]leucine incorporated into DNA and de novo synthesized
> protein, corresponded with decreasing DNA and protein contents in all three
> cell types. The inhibition effect of RT rose with increasing concentration of
> the tea extract in the culture medium. Ornithine decarboxylase activity was
> significantly affected only by 100% RT extract in every examined cell types.
> These results suggest that the inhibitory effect of RT extract on the growth
> of primary cells, fibroblasts and myoblasts is due to the potent scavenging
> activity of the RT extract.
>> <2>
> Authors
> Inanami O. Asanuma T. Inukai N. Jin T. Shimokawa S. Kasai N. Nakano M.
> Sato F. Kuwabara M.
> Institution
> Faculty of Agriculture, Iwate University, Morioka, Japan.
> Title
> The suppression of age-related accumulation of lipid peroxides in rat brain
> by administration of Rooibos tea (Aspalathus linearis).
> Source
> Neuroscience Letters. 196(1-2):85-8, 1995 Aug 18.
> Abstract
> The protective effects of Rooibos tea (RT), Aspalathus
> linearis, against damage to the central nervous system (CNS) accompanying
> aging were examined by both the thiobarbituric acid reaction (TBA) and
> magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods in brains of chronically RT-treated
> rats. Ad libitum administration of RT was begun with 3-month-old Wistar
> female rats and continued for 21 months. The contents of TBA reactive
> substances (TBARS) in the frontal cortex, occipital cortex, hippocampus and
> cerebellum in 24-month-old rats after administration with water were
> significantly higher than those in young rats (5 weeks old). However, no
> significant increase of TBARS was observed in RT-administered aged rats. When
> MR images of the brains of 24-month-old rats with and without RT as well as
> 5-week-old rats were taken, a decrease of the signal intensity was observed
> in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum in MR images of aged rats
> without RT, whereas little change of the signal intensity was observed in MR
> images of the same regions of 24-month-old rats treated with RT, whose images
> were similar to those of young rats. These observations suggested that (1)
> the age-related accumulation of lipid peroxides in the brain was closely
> related to the morphological changes observed by MRI, and (2) chronic
> RT-administration prevented age-related accumulation of lipid peroxides in
> several regions of rat brain.
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