Effects of Black Tea on Cardiovascular Disease in the Mauritian Population

OBJECTIVES

Our broad objectives will be to:

• Survey and recruit patients with ischaemic heart diseases in a randomized sample representative of the Mauritian population (ethnicity, gender, age, social and economical status) and record their medical history,
• Collect fasting blood serum and urine at baseline and after supplement of control volume of tea infusion and water from study group and control group respectively,
• Optimize techniques to determine levels of specific biomarkers from above body fluid samples,
• Investigate existing correlation between tea consumption and risk of cardiovascular diseases in Mauritian population

Our specific objectives will be to:

• Select a randomised group of the Mauritian population, with ischaemic heart disease, who has been referred to the Cardiac Centre, Pamplemousses for Angiography and a group of people showing no risk of cardiovascular diseases
• Inform the people about the motives of the study and seek consent from those willing to participate in the study,
• Evaluate the levels of biomarkers of oxidative stress (total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, triglycerides, homocysteine, atrial natriuretic peptides, brain natriuretic peptides, 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine, isoprostanes, hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid, products of protein damage, uric acid and glycosylated haemoglobin) from 8-10 hr fasting blood serum and urine at baseline from all participants
• Supply the study group with a control volume of tea infusion and the control group with the same amount of water for a defined period of time followed by a two week wash out period with water.
• Study biomarkers as above from 8-10 hr fasting blood serum and urine in two week intervals during the supplement regime
• Investigate the existing correlation between tea consumption and levels of biomarkers of cardiovascular diseases in a Mauritian sample population.