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Green tea can kill cancer cells: Study

Sarfraz Ali 10:56 PM | 29 Jan, 2015
Green tea can kill cancer cells: Study
HARRISBERG (Web Desk) - Green tea helps with weight-loss, diabetes, protects your heart, helps get rid of that wretched smoking addiction and boosts your immunity! If these weren't enough, here's another one. It should be reason enough to make you swap your regular milky tea with a cup of perfectly brewed green tea.

Green tea can kill oral cancer cells without harming the healthy ones. According to a study published in the journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, the compound epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) found in green tea triggers a process in the mitochondria that kills the cancer cells, keeping the healthy ones intact.

Previously, another study published in the journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research suggested that EGCG is also an antioxidant, which can fight against age-related degenerative diseases. They believe EGCC also enhances learning and improves memory.

According to Joshua Lambert, associate professor of food science and co-director of Penn State's Center for Plant and Mushroom Foods for Health, "EGCG is doing something to damage the mitochondria and that damage sets up a cycle causing more damage and it spirals out, until the cell undergoes programmed cell death. It looks like EGCG causes the formation of reactive oxygen species in cancer cells, which damages the mitochondria, and the mitochondria responds by making more reactive oxygen species."

As this mitochondrial demise continues, the cancer cells lower their defenses. "So, it's turning off its mechanism of protection at the same time that EGCG is causing this oxidative stress," Lambert added. Research showed that the EGCG did not cause this reaction in normal cells. In fact, it appeared to increase the protective capabilities of the cell.

To understand how EGCG affects normal cells, researchers studied the effects of the compound on both cancer cells and normal cells. They grew the normal and cancer cells and then exposed them to EGCG, at concentrations typically found in the saliva after chewing green-tea chewing gum. At various times, the researchers would collect the cells and check for oxidative stress and signs of antioxidant response.

"We also took a lot of pictures, so we could use fluorescent dyes that measure mitochondrial function and oxidative stress and actually see these things develop," said Lambert, who worked with Jong-Yung Park, a research technician and Ling Tao, a doctoral candidate in food science. The researchers said that a protein called sirtuin 3 - SIRT3 - is critical to the process.

Lambert concluded by saying that "It plays an important role in mitochondrial function and in anti-oxidant response in lots of tissues in the body, so the idea that EGCG might selectively affect the activity of sirtuin 3 in cancer cells - to turn it off - and in normal cells - to turn it on - is probably applicable in multiple kinds of cancers."

Sarfraz Ali
Sarfraz Ali

The author is working as Editor Digital Media for Daily Pakistan and can be reached @ItsSarfrazAli.

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Rupee gains massive recovery against US dollar after SBP relaxes rules for banks

KARACHI – The Pakistani rupee experienced a significant surge in its value in the open market against the dollar.

This surge came after a recent directive from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), allowing banks to purchase dollars at the interbank market rate for international card payments. The objective of this move was to narrow the exchange rate gap between the official and informal markets.

According to the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan, the currency market witnessed the dollar being traded at Rs298, compared to its previous day’s closing rate of 311.

The SBP’s decision was influenced by the International Monetary Fund’s demand for Pakistan to stabilize its currency market before resuming a $6.5 billion bailout program.

In a circular, the central bank stated, “In response to the feedback received from various stakeholders, Authorized Dealers are now permitted to buy USD from the Interbank market to settle card-based cross border transactions with international payment schemes (IPS).”

Market analysts had predicted a decline in the value of the rupee following the implementation of these new guidelines.

Zafar Paracha, the General Secretary of the ECAP, expressed that the SBP’s decision was timely and appropriate. He anticipated that it would lead to a decrease of 20 to 25 rupees in the open market currency rate. Paracha also noted that aligning the rates in the official and informal markets would bolster remittance inflows.

Pracha further emphasized that significant disparities in rates between the official and informal markets encourage transactions outside of the official banking system.

https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/01-Jun-2023/today-s-currency-exchange-rates-in-pakistan-dollar-euro-pound-riyal-rates-on-june-1-2023

Today's gold rates in Pakistan – June 1, 2023

KARACHI – The price of a single tola of 24-karat gold in Pakistan is Rs 229,000 on Thursday. The price of 10 grams of 24k gold was recorded at Rs197,620.   

Likewise, 10 grams of 22k gold were being traded for Rs181,150 while a single tola of 22-karat gold was being sold at Rs 211,290.

Note: The gold rate in Pakistan is fluctuating according to the international market so the price is never been fixed. The below rates are provided by local gold markets and Sarafa Markets of different cities.

City Gold Silver
Lahore PKR 229,000 PKR 2125
Karachi PKR 229,000 PKR 2125
Islamabad PKR 229,000 PKR 2125
Peshawar PKR 229,000 PKR 2125
Quetta PKR 229,000 PKR 2125
Sialkot PKR 229,000 PKR 2125
Attock PKR 229,000 PKR 2125
Gujranwala PKR 229,000 PKR 2125
Jehlum PKR 229,000 PKR 2125
Multan PKR 229,000 PKR 2125
Bahawalpur PKR 229,000 PKR 2125
Gujrat PKR 229,000 PKR 2125
Nawabshah PKR 229,000 PKR 2125
Chakwal PKR 229,000 PKR 2125
Hyderabad PKR 229,000 PKR 2125
Nowshehra PKR 229,000 PKR 2125
Sargodha PKR 229,000 PKR 2125
Faisalabad PKR 229,000 PKR 2125
Mirpur PKR 229,000 PKR 2125

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