Prevention of abdominal aortic aneurysm progression by oral administration of green tea polyphenol in a rat model

Therapeutic options for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) are currently limited to invasive surgical or endovascular repair. Although advances in diagnosis have allowed physicians to detect smaller AAAs, no pharmacologic treatment directly targeting AAA progression has been found thus far. In the present study, we demonstrated that a green tea polyphenol, epigallocatechin-3-gallate, attenuates AAA progression through anti-inflammatory and elastoregenerative mechanisms in a rat AAA model. Regular green tea consumption might be advantageous for patients with a small AAA or as a prophylactic strategy for AAA.