Abstract:
This study examined the antipyretic activity of Sri Lankan black tea (Camellia sinensis
L.) in yeast-induced rat pyrexia model using black tea brew (BTB) of high grown Dust
grade No: 1 tea. Different doses of B TB (167 mg/ml, equivalent to 3 cups; 501 mg/mL
equivalent to 9 cups; and 1336 mg/ml, equivalent to 24 cups), water (control) or paracetomol
(200 mg/kg, reference drug) were orally administered to yeast -induced pyretic rats (N
6/group) and their rectal temperature monitored at hourly intervals for 6 h. The results
show that all doses of BTB and paracetomol significantly (P < 0.05) suppressed the pyrexiainduced
by yeast (low dose upto 2 h, mid dose upto 5 h, high dose upto 4 h and paracetomol
upto 4 h). In addition, the mid dose of BTB significantly (P < 0.05) suppressed the intestinal
secretion in enteropooiing assay of mice suggesting an impairment of prostaglandin
synthesis. It is concluded that Sri Lankan black tea possesses antipyretic activity of
moderately long duration in rats and it could play a similar role in humans.
