Comparative study of the effects of black tea extract on anxiety-like behavior in male and female rats

Anxiety disorder is the most common of all mental illnesses in the world and have become one of interesting research topics in pharmaceuticals. According to a traditional belief, black tea (Camella sinensis (CS)) is known as a medicine that has many benefits. But because of its high consumption, it has side effects that can be mentioned as arrythmia and anxiety which severity of these complications may be different between men and women. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of comparing the anxiety-like effects of CS in male and female rats. 28 rats including 14 males and 14 females were used for the experiment. Males were divided into control and treatment groups and females were divided in the same way. During the experiment, the treatment groups were given black tea for 24 hours, and the control group was given drinking water during this period. Then, the behavior of the rats was tested in order to investigate the motor activity and anxiety in the elevated plus maze. Data were analyzed by T-test and all data were shown as Mean±S.E.M. This study showed that CS has anxiogenic effects in male rats and anxiolytic effects in female rats.