Theacrine,a purine alkaloid with anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities     

Yuanyuan Wang  Xiaorong Yang  Xinqiang Zheng  Jing Li  Chuangxing Ye  Xiaohong Song 《Fitoterapia》2010

The anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of theacrine (1, 3, 7, 9-tetramethyluric acid), a purine alkaloid which is abundantly present in Camellia kucha, were investigated. Xylene-induced ear edema, acetic acid-induced vascular permeability and λ-carrageenan-induced paw edema were used to investigate anti-inflammatory activity, and acetic acid-induced writhing and hot-plate tests were used to determine analgesic effect. Oral administration of theacrine (8–32 mg/kg) induced dose-related anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects. On the other hand, oral caffeine administration (8–32 mg/kg) did not show an inhibitory effect on the inhibition of inflammatory response or cause analgesia. Additionally, the result of the acute toxicity test showed that the LD₅₀ of theacrine was 810.6 mg/kg (769.5–858.0 mg/kg). The data obtained suggest theacrine possessed analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities.  相似文献