| Title: | Green tea catechin EGCG attenuates hippocampal atrophy and cognitive impairment in obesity via autophagy signaling |
| Journal: | npj Science of Food |
| Published: | 4 Jun 2026 |
| Pubmed: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42243131/ |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41538-026-00914-4 |
| URL: | https://www.nature.com/articles/s41538-026-00914-4_reference.pdf |
Publication 19781
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Abstract
Obesity is prevalent and linked to cognitive impairment via hippocampal atrophy and insulin resistance. Here, we investigated whether the primary catechin of green tea, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), could attenuate this neuropathology. Epidemiological analysis of UK Biobank adults with obesity provided an initial clue, showing a positive linear trend between green tea intake and hippocampal volume (p = 0.07). To elucidate the underlying mechanisms, we administered a human-achievable dose of EGCG (50 mg/kg) to high-fat diet-fed mice. EGCG treatment significantly reduced body weight and inflammatory signaling while improving insulin sensitivity, attenuating hippocampal atrophy, and mitigating cognitive deficits. Mechanistically, EGCG rescued synaptic structural integrity by suppressing the pro-inflammatory JNK pathway, restoring hippocampal insulin signaling (IRS1/Akt), and stimulating neuronal autophagy through the AMPK/mTOR/ULK1 axis. Together, these data provide translational evidence that EGCG counteracts obesity-linked neurodegeneration by linking metabolic health to hippocampal integrity through the inflammation-insulin-autophagy axis, motivating dietary trials to mitigate cognitive impairment.</p>
15 Authors
- Kunyi Huang
- Xin Li
- Yujie Chen
- Yiyun Qi
- Weiying Zhang
- Jia Ee Tan
- Jia Ying Chan
- Jiashuo Lu
- Fangyi Hao
- Jiayi Shi
- Shuting Yan
- Zhenzhen Huang
- Xiaojun Wu
- Qi Xu
- Zhiwei Ma
1 Application
| Application ID | Title |
|---|---|
| 87507 | Quality control, denoising, and data mining of the UK Biobank dataset |
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