Comment · Sat, March 21, 2020 · Natrium Health & Nootropics Depot
You might not want to be taking EGCG now that coronavirus is afoot
Original post in this thread
redditinface · 14 points
Emphasis on might. But Dr. Fauci lays out his concern about ACE inhibitors and coronavirus in his coronavirus update today, and EGCG is an ACE inhibitor.
But I want to emphasize that the jury is still out on this, and that several cardiology associations do not think the current evidence supports any action at this time.
What they were answering
WallachianVoivode · 3 points
That would be an interaction with the OH groups in the reduced form of EGCG, not the oxidized, or am I having a brain fart here?
You're definitely not. Hydroxyl groups in both B and D rings can chelate zinc. It is the reduced form that brings the zinc into the cell. You are definitely right there. Increasing intracellular zinc concentration, could, however, still depend on production of the oxidized form. I definitely don't assert this is the case, but it could, hypothetically, be so.
For example, its intracellular oxidation could prevent further chelation until it leaves the cell to be reduced again, preventing zinc efflux, increasing intracellular zinc. As another example, it could make the reduced, unchelated, hydrophillic molecule more lipophillic, letting the molecule to leave the cell to be reduced, chelate zinc and bring it into the cell. Or it could be less likely to be metabolized in its oxidised form, being gradually converted into the reduced form as the reduced form is metabolized, prolonging its activity.
These examples may be long shot, and there may be literature against them, but to be able to definitively say that vitamin C does not interfere with EGCG ionophore action we need to specifically test this case in a lab environment.
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · Natrium Health & Nootropics Depot
That is an interesting postulation! The oxidation could be what is releasing the zinc inside the cell, and inhibiting that could prevent the zinc from acting where it needs to. We definitely need some tests in a lab environment to say one way or another, but that mechanism does make sense as a possibility. I'll see if I can find anything that might point in a specific direction. Thanks for the discussion! It definitely got me thinking more.