Antioxidant and Atherogenic Foam Cell Prevention Ability of Methanol and Aqueous Extract of Emblica Officinalis Fruits and its Effect on Cd36 and Abca1 Gene Expression in Raw 264.7 Macrophage Cell Line.

Different solvent extracts of Emblica officinalis fruits were assessed for antioxidant
activity, and it was seen that the methanol and water extracts showed the highest
activity. Foam cell formation, the basis of atherosclerotic plaque formation, was
prevented by only the methanol and water extracts of Emblica and not by acetone,
ethyl acetate and hexane extracts in RAW 264.7 cell lines. Gene expression studies
showed that CD36 scavenger receptor expression was downregulated and ABCA1
(cholesterol efflux receptor) expression was upregulated in a dose- and timedependent
manner with the upregulation seen at 12 and 24 h time points. Highperformance
liquid chromatography analysis for methanol and water extracts
showed coumaric acid to be the next abundant compound followed by caffeic acid
after myricetin and gallic acid, which were also present in other extracts in high
amounts. A high correlation was seen between caffeic acid, gallic acid, coumaric
acid and total antioxidant capacity.
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
Emblica officinalis fruits, commonly incorporated in various food products, has
been known to be a “wonder fruit” since ancient times and has been known to
dissolve atherosclerotic plaque in arteries. However, the precise molecular
mechanism of its action has not been elucidated yet. Furthermore, a systematic
study of the extraction system is yet to be done. The present work attempts to
shed some light on these questions to form a basis for further research on this
precious, but under exploited fruit, and also to promote its consumption on a
large scale.