Emblica Officinalis: A Novel Therapy for Acute Pancreatitis — An Experimental Study

Abstract

Acute necrotising pancreatitis is associated with an unacceptably high mortality for which no satisfactory remedy exists. Emblica officinalis (E.o.) is a plant prescribed in Ayurveda, the Indian traditional system of medicine, for pancreas-related disorders. This study was carried out to evaluate the protective effect of E.o. against acute necrotising pancreatitis in dogs. Pancreatitis was induced by injecting a mixture of trypsin, bile and blood into the duodenal opening of the pancreatic duct. Twenty eight dogs were divided into 4 groups (n = 6-8 each): GpI–control, GpII–acute pancreatitis, GpIII–sham-operated, GpIV–pretreatment with 28 mg E.o./kg/day for 15 days before inducing pancreatitis. Serum amylase increased from 541.99 ± 129.13 IU/ml to 1592.63 ± 327.83 IU (p<0.02) 2 hrs after the induction of pancreatitis in GpII. The rise in serum amylase in both GpIII and GpIV was not significant. On light microscopic examination, acinar cell damage was less and the total inflammatory score was significantly lower in the E.o. treated group as compared to GpII. Electron microscopy confirmed this and showed an increased amount of smooth, endoplasmic reticulum and small, condensed granules embedded in a vacuole. More studies are needed to explore the clinical potential of E.o. and its mechanism of action.

Biochemical Effect of Emblica Officinalis on Experimentally Induced Tumor in Female Mice

“…The observed increase in serum creatinine level in tumor bearing mice are similar to the results of other authors (18,19) who observed that serum creatinine level showed a significant increase in mice-bearing Ehrlich ascites carcinoma. Moreover, the increase in plasma creatinine concentration in tumor bearing mice may attribute to the increase of muscle necrosis Hussein (20) . As confirmed observed that, creatinine was decreased in tumor-bearing rats as the glomerular lesions progressed, associated with a rise in serum creatinine level (21) .…”

The Role of Plant-derived Products in Pancreatitis: Experimental and Clinical Evidence

“…The treated dogs showed non‐significant alteration of amylase levels even after disease induction, indicating alleviation of pancreatitis. Furthermore, electron microscopy results indicated the attenuation of fusion of lysosomes and zymogen granules, thus preventing the activation of digestive enzymes (Thorat et al , ). Another study with rutin rich methanolic extract of Emblica reported its beneficial role in ethanol and cerulein‐induced pancreatitis in rats.…”

Use of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for the Detection of Glycemic Elements in Indian Medicinal Plants

“…The fruit of E. officinalis has been reported to have potent antimicrobial, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, antitumor, and hypolipidemic properties [57, 58]. The aqueous extract of the E. officinalis seeds has antidiabetic and antioxidant activities [59, 60].…”