Toxicological Evaluation of Emblica officinalis Fruit Extract and its Anti-inflammatory and Free Radical Scavenging Properties

Sushil Kumar Middha; Arvind Kumar Goyal; Prakash Lokesh; Varsha Yardi; Lavanya Mojamdar; Deepthi Sudhir Keni; Dinesh Babu; Talambedu Usha

Articles

Abstract

Pharmacognosy Magazine,2015,11,44s2,s427-s433.

DOI:10.4103/0973-1296.168982

Published:November 2015

Type:Original Article

Authors:

Author(s) affiliations:

Sushil Kumar Middha¹, Arvind Kumar Goyal², Prakash Lokesh³, Varsha Yardi⁴, Lavanya Mojamdar¹, Deepthi Sudhir Keni⁵, Dinesh Babu⁶, Talambedu Usha⁴
¹ Department of Biotechnology, Maharani Lakshmi Ammanni College for Women, Malleswarm, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
² Department of Biotechnology, Bamboo Technology, Bodoland University, Kokrajhar, BTAD, Assam, India
³ Department of Biochemistry, CPGS, Jain College, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
⁴ Department of Biochemistry, Maharani Lakshmi Ammanni College for Women, Malleswarm, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
⁵ Department of Biotechnology, Sapthagiri College of Engineering, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
⁶ Heymans Institute of Pharmacology, Ghent University, Belgium

Abstract:

Background: Emblica officinalis (Euphorbiaceae), popularly known as Indian gooseberry or "Amla" in India, is used in Ayurveda as "rejuvenating herb" since ancient times. Objective: This study was carried out to estimate toxicity, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidative activities of the methanolic extract of Emblica officinalis fruit (MEO) in an animal model. Materials and Methods: Antioxidative property of MEO was assessed by in vitro assays such as phosphomolybdenum assay (total antioxidant capacity), free radical scavenging assays 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and 2,2'-azino-bis and 3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (DPPH and ABTS method) and lipid peroxidation assay (LPO). The anti-inflammatory property was evaluated by carrageenan-induced acute inflammation in rats by measuring rat paw volume at different time intervals and toxicological analysis using mice. Results and Discussion: High performance liquid chromatography studies revealed the presence of gallic acid (2.10%), mucic acid (4.90%), ellagic acid (2.10%), quercetin (28.00%), rutin (3.89%), and β-glucogallin (1.46%). MEO showed highest antioxidant activities by using DPPH (17.33–89.00%), ABTS (23.03–94.16%), nitric oxide scavenging activity (12.94–70.16%), LPO (56.54%), and phosphomolybdenum assay (142 ± 6.09 μg/ml). The LD₅₀was found to be approximately 1125 mg/kg (p.o). High dose of MEO showed significant reduction (72.71%) in the inflammation after 4 h of treatment, which was comparable to diclofenac (10 mg/kg) (61.57%) treated group. Significant reduction (P < 0.05) in the inflammatory cytokine (interleukin-1β and tumor necrosis factor-α) markers were also observed (57.25% and 35.41%, respectively) in serum of MEO treated animals as compared to control. Conclusion: Taken together, phenolic compounds of MEO may serve as a potential herbal drug for amelioration of acute inflammation due to their modulatory action on free radicals.