Colletotrichum gloeosporioides- Contaminated Tea Infusion Blocks Lipids Reduction and Induces Kidney Damage in Mice.

When the homogenate of fresh tea tree leaves was fermented to produce black tea beverage, the Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (main pathogen or endophyte of Camellia sinensis) may be mixed into the fermentation liquor. However, it was unclear whether C. gloeosporioides-contaminated tea beverage would damage human health. Therefore, we investigated the changes of functional components and the influences on mice. C. gloeosporioides was added to the green tea infusion. After cultivation of 48 h, tea polyphenols, caffeine, and L-theanine decreased by 31.0, 26.2, and 8.3%, respectively. The contaminated tea infusion showed brown stain, and produced a group of toxic materials named phthalic acid esters. The animal study showed that green tea without contamination significantly decreased levels of alanine aminotransferase, triglycerides, free fatty acids, low-density lipoprotein, and increased insulin level compared with obese mice. On the contrary, contaminated tea lost the effects on these indicators. Furthermore, the urea nitrogen and serum creatinine levels significantly increased in the contaminated tea-drinking mice. Altogether, our results indicate that C. gloeosporioides contamination can reduce the amount of functional components of green tea. Therefore, it inhibits some health-care function of lipid-lowering. In addition, the toxic components in contaminated tea infusion might induce renal damage.

Meta-Analysis of the Association between Tea Intake and the Risk of Cognitive Disorders.

BACKGROUND: Alzheimer's disease is a common neurodegenerative disorder in elderly. This study was aimed to systematically evaluate the association between tea intake and the risk of cognitive disorders by meta-analysis. METHODS AND FINDINGS: PubMed, Embase and Wanfang databases were systematically searched and a total of 26 observational studies were included in this study. Odds ratios (ORs) and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated and pooled by using fixed or random effects models according to the degree of heterogeneity. RESULTS: The overall pooled analysis indicated that tea intake could significantly reduce the risk of cognitive disorders (OR = 0.65, 95%CI = 0.58-0.73). Subgroup analyses were conducted based on study design, population, frequency of tea drinking and type of cognitive disorders. The results showed that tea drinking was significantly associated with the reduced incidence of cognitive disorders in all of subgroups based on study design and frequency of tea drinking. In particular, tea drinking was inversely associated with the risk of cognitive impairment (CoI), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), cognitive decline and ungrouped cognitive disorders. Moreover, for population subgroups, the significant association was only found in Chinese people. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that daily tea drinking is associated with decreased risk of CoI, MCI and cognitive decline in the elderly. However, the association between tea intake and Alzheimer's disease remains elusive.

Preparation and response of medical and health institutions when energy flow is interrupted and infrastructure is damaged.

Energy interruption and infrastructure damage are the common characteristic between the snow disaster occurred in some southern provinces of China and the 5.12 Wenchuan earthquake in China in 2008. This paper summaries the effects on medical and health institutions caused by interruption of energy flow and damaged infrastructure, shares the preparation and response practices, experience, and lessons of medical disasters, and gives suggestions about how to prepare and response for medical and health institutions when energy flow is interrupted and infrastructure is damaged.