"To provide best outcomes, skin grafts must be processed and stored in a manner that maintains their viability and structural integrity until they are needed for transplantation," explained Dr. Hyon. "Transplant dysfunction often occurs as the result of oxidation. A better storage solution could prevent this."

It is known that polyphenols in green tea promote the preservation of tissues, such as blood vessels, cornea, islet cells, articular cartilage and myocardium at room temperature. Also, it is known that ECGC has stronger anti-oxidant activities than vitamin C because of its sterochemical structure and is reported to play an important role in preventing cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

This study examined how EGCG might help extend the preservation duration of frozen rat skin tissues and found that skin grafts could be protected from freeze-thaw injuries when EGCG was absorbed into various membrane lipids and proteins. Results of the study showed that EGCG enhanced the viability and stored duration of skin grafts up to seven weeks at 4 degrees C.

"The storage time of skin grafts was extended to 24 weeks by cryopreservation using EGCG and the survival rate was almost 100 percent," noted Dr. Hyon."

"These studies highlight the benefits of using natural compounds such as ECGC to enhance the preservation of stored tissues, possibly due to their anti-oxidative properties" said Dr. Naoya Kobayashi, guest editor of this double issue of Cell Transplantation.

Source: Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair