Matcha reduced sneezing in mice without affecting the immune reaction, suggesting it may relieve symptoms without altering allergic nasal pathogenesis.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
Scientific Frontline: Extended "At a Glance" Summary: Matcha's Impact on Allergic Rhinitis
The Core Concept: Matcha, a finely ground powder of specially grown green tea leaves, has been demonstrated to reduce the sneezing response associated with allergic rhinitis (hay fever) in animal models.
Key Distinction/Mechanism: Unlike conventional treatments that target the immune system's inflammatory response, matcha reduces sneezing without altering major immune markers such as immunoglobulin E (IgE), mast cells, or T cells. Instead, it functions neurologically by directly suppressing brainstem neuronal activation linked to the sneezing reflex.
Major Frameworks/Components:
- c-Fos Gene Expression: An indicator of neurological activation; its expression is elevated during hay fever but lowered to near-normal levels following matcha consumption.
- Ventral Spinal Trigeminal Nucleus Caudalis: The specific brainstem region responsible for the sneezing reflex, which is actively suppressed by matcha.
- IgE and Mast Cell Pathways: The traditional drivers of the early-phase allergic response (triggering histamine release), which remain distinctly unaffected by this intervention.
Branch of Science: Neuroimmunology, Nutritional Science, and Allergy/Immunology.
Future Application: The findings pave the way for human clinical trials aimed at developing evidence-backed, food-based interventions that complement standard pharmacological care for managing allergic rhinitis symptoms.
Why It Matters: By suppressing the neurological reflex of sneezing rather than altering the immune system's baseline function, matcha offers a promising, non-pharmacological adjunct therapy for allergy sufferers, potentially reducing reliance on drugs that cause systemic side effects.
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| Effects of matcha on activity in the sneezing center in mice. Intranasal administration of histamine increased activity in the sneezing center. However, this response was attenuated by the administration of matcha. Image Credit: Osamu Kaminuma/Hiroshima University |
There’s now another reason to love Japan’s famous matcha: a study in mice suggests that the green tea powder could reduce the need to sneeze in people with nasal allergies.
Matcha is a bright green powder made from specially grown green tea leaves that are dried and ground. It’s used both for making tea and as a flavoring in a wide range of products. Previous research has shown that the tea contains high levels of biologically active compounds, including antioxidants and amino acids, and its use is linked to a range of health benefits, such as improved heart and brain function, and reduced inflammation.
Professor Osamu Kaminuma, from the Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine at Hiroshima University in Japan, was particularly interested in matcha’s effects in people with allergic rhinitis, more commonly known as hay fever. “Human studies suggest green tea may relieve allergic rhinitis, but how it works is unclear,” Kaminuma said.
In an early access paper published March 5 in npj Science of Food, Kaminuma and colleagues reported that mice engineered to experience hay fever symptoms were given matcha tea 2-3 times a week for over five weeks and an additional dose of tea 30 minutes before being exposed to an allergen that would trigger their allergic rhinitis symptoms.
The team found that the mice sneezed much less than expected with the matcha treatment, but perhaps more interesting was the finding that the matcha didn’t appear to have any effect on the allergic responses dependent on immunoglobulin E (IgE), mast cells, and T cells.
IgE antibodies that bind to mast cells are central to allergic reactions, triggering the release of histamine and other inflammatory chemicals. Mast cells drive the early phase of the allergic response, while T cells orchestrate longer-term immune processes, including IgE production.
“Oral matcha reduced sneezing without clearly changing major immune markers. Instead, it strongly suppressed brainstem neuronal activation linked to the sneezing reflex,” Kaminuma explained.
The group looked at the activity of a gene called c-Fos—an indicator of neurological and behavioral responses to an intense stimulus like being exposed to a hay fever allergen—in the ventral spinal trigeminal nucleus caudali, which is the region of the brain involved in sneezing. They found that when mice were experiencing hay fever, the expression of the c-Fos gene increased, but treatment with matcha reduced expression levels almost back down to normal.
The next step is to study whether these effects also occur in humans. “The goal is an evidence-backed, food-based option that complements standard care for allergic rhinitis symptoms,” Kaminuma said.
Published in journal: npj Science of Food
Title: Matcha alleviates sneezing response in a murine model of allergic rhinitis
Authors: Sawako Ogata, Naoto Uda, Kento Miura, Uyanga Enkhbaatar, Norimasa Yamasaki, Naohisa Hosomi, Akio Mori, Ryo Hasebe, Naoaki Matsuda, Fumiko Higashikawa, Maribet Gamboa, Shotaro Nakajima, Noriko Kitamura, Minoru Gotoh, Shin-Ichi Sekizawa, and Osamu Kaminuma
Source/Credit: Hiroshima University
Reference Number: nut031126_01
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