African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 5 (11), pp. 1082-1086, 2 June 2006   

ISSN 1684–5315 © 2006 Academic Journals        

Full Length Research Paper

In vitro evaluation of the interaction between tea extracts and penicillin G against staphylococcus aureus

Esimone, C. O.^{1, 3}*, Iroha, I. R.^1,2, Ibezim, E. C. ¹, Okeh, C. O.² and Okpana, E. M.¹

¹Department of  Pharmaceutics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria.

²Deparment of Applied  Microbiology, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Nigeria.

³Deparment of Molecular  and Medical Virology, Ruhr University, Bochum, Germany.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: coesimone@yahoo.com.

Accepted 11 May, 2006

The herb-drug interaction between tea (Carmelia sinensis) extract and penicillin G (Pen G) was investigated against three strains of Staphylococcus aureus using pair combinations in an in vitro decimal assay for additivity test. Results showed that the interactions between penicillin G and tea extracts were mainly additive against the three strains of S. aureus. This suggests that the concomitant administration of tea and Pen G may not impair the antimicrobial activity of Pen G.       

Key words: Penicillin G, tea extract, herb-drug interaction.