**5. Green tea for stroke prevention**

As already mentioned, polyphenols from green tea, especially its active component, namely EGCG, have received more attention because of their potential therapeutic agents for preventing neurodegeneration, inflammatory diseases, and cancer [63, 71]. The ability of green tea is mainly due to its antioxidant, free radical scavenger, metal chelation, anti-cancer, anti-apoptotic, and anti-inflammatory properties. In addition, research on EGCG has provided hope about its potential to improve health in old age by enhancing the morphological and functional disorders that occur in normal aging and its ability to suppress cognitive impairment [34].

Polyphenol compounds in green tea are known to have neuroprotective and neurorestorative effects. EGCG has the effect of increasing cell viability, reducing ROS, and increasing levels of stress markers on the endoplasmic reticulum and markers of apoptosis. EGCG also protects against mitochondrial dysfunction, 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-induced toxicity, apoptosis induced by oxidative stress in mitochondria, and glutamate excitotoxicity. EGCG also maintains energy in mitochondria and reduces inflammation in brain tissue and damage to neurons. EGCG also has a neurorestorative effect by increasing neurite growth which makes EGCG a potential candidate as a drug that can modify neurological diseases because it has neurorestorative and neuroprotective effects [6, 33, 68].

The active ingredient of green tea, namely EGCG, in addition to reducing and preventing oxidative stress, EGCG can also reduce inflammation. EGCG is a potent leukocyte elastase inhibitor that mediates the activation of MMP-9 and MMP-2, which will trigger inflammation. Oral administration of EGCG will also reduce inflammation in pulmonary fibrosis, block neutrophil-induced angiogenesis, inhibit pro-inflammatory mediators in inflammatory models, and inhibit pro-inflammatory mediators such as dose-dependent myeloperoxidase. This implies that EGCG is an anti-inflammatory agent with therapeutic potential [25, 27, 62].

## *Green Tea with Its Active Compound EGCG for Acute Ischemic Stroke Treatment DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107068*

EGCG was reported to be able to maintain lipid peroxidation and DNA deamination by protecting cells from lipid peroxidation initiators such as t-butylhydroperoxide, 6-hydroxydopamine, iron, ultraviolet radiation, hydrogen peroxide, and 3-hydroxykynurenine. An in vivo study conducted to determine the effect of EGCG on lipid peroxidation showed a significant decrease in lipid peroxidation. This research is done by measuring the levels of Thiobituric reactive substance (TBARS). Simultaneously, with decreased lipid peroxidation levels, several markers of lipid peroxidation, 4-hydroxynonenal and Malonaldehyde, with increased glutathione peroxidase activity and decreased levels of glutathione. This study has implications for the role of EGCG in protecting cells from lipid peroxidation [69, 72–74].
