Abstract：
Tea consumption has been linked to a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, which imposes a heavy burden on the healthcare system; however, which components in tea cause this beneficial effect is not fully understood. Here we uncovered a cystatin (namely CsCPI1), which is a cysteine proteinase inhibitor (CPI) of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) that promotes antithrombotic activity. Since thrombosis is a common pathogenesis of fatal CVDs, we investigated the effects of CsCPI1, which showed good therapeutic effects in mouse models of thrombotic disease and ischemic stroke. CsCPI1 significantly increases endothelial cell production of nitric oxide (NO) and inhibits platelet aggregation. Notably, CsCPI1 exhibited no cytotoxicity or resistance to pH and temperature changes, which indicates that CsCPI1 might be a potent antithrombotic agent that contributes to the therapeutic effects of tea consumption against CVD. Specifically, the antithrombotic effects of CsCPI1 are distinct from the classical function of plant cystatins against herbivorous insects. Therefore, our study proposes a new potential role of cystatins in CVD prevention and treatment, which requires further study.
摘要：
茶叶消费与降低心血管疾病（CVD）死亡率的风险有关。这给医疗保健系统带来了沉重的负担；然而，茶中的哪些成分会导致这种有益效果，目前尚不完全清楚。在这里，我们发现了胱抑素(即CsCPI1)，它是茶树（山茶）的半胱氨酸蛋白酶抑制剂（CPI），可促进抗血栓形成活性。由于血栓形成是致死性CVDs的常见发病机制,我们研究了CsCPI1的作用,CsCPI1在血栓性疾病和缺血性卒中小鼠模型中显示出良好的治疗效果.CsCPI1显着增加内皮细胞一氧化氮（NO）的产生并抑制血小板聚集。值得注意的是,CsCPI1对pH和温度变化无细胞毒性或抗性，这表明CsCPI1可能是一种有效的抗血栓形成剂，有助于茶消费对CVD的治疗作用。具体来说,CsCPI1的抗血栓形成作用不同于植物细胞抑制素对草食性昆虫的经典功能。因此,我们的研究提出了一个新的潜在作用，在心血管疾病的预防和治疗，这需要进一步研究。
