Lead author Dr. David Gozal of the Kosair Children's Hospital Research Institute at the University of Louisville in Kentucky examined the effects green tea polyphenols, administered through drinking water, on rats that were intermittently deprived of oxygen during 12-hour "night" cycles, mimicking the intermittent hypoxia, known as IH, that humans with obstructive sleep apnea experience.

The researchers divided 106 male rats into two groups that underwent intermittent oxygen depletion during the 12-hour night cycle for 14 days. One group received drinking water treated with green tea polyphenols; the other received plain drinking water.

The rats were tested for inflammation and oxidative stress, as well as for performance in spatial learning and memory tasks -- a water maze in which the rat had to memorize the location of a hidden platform.

The study, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, says IH-rats that received the green tea-treated water performed significantly better in a water maze than the rats that drank plain water.

Green tea polyphenols "may represent a potential interventional strategy for patients" with sleep-disordered breathing, Gozal says.