Suppression of abdominal fat and anti-hyperlipidemic potential of Emblica officinalis: Upregulation of PPARs and identification of active moiety

Since ancient time, Emblica officinalis (E. officinalis) is being used for the management of various ailments. Phytochemical analysis proves that fruit juice of E. officinalis contains high amount gallic acid, which could be responsible for medicinal potentials. Hence in this study, gallic acid and fruit juice of E. officinalis were evaluated for anti-hyperlipidemic potential in various experimental animal models. Experimentally, hyperlipidemia was induced through administration of poloxamer-407, tyloxapol and high-fat-diet supplement in rats. Treatment with gallic acid as well as fruit juice of E. officinalis decreased plasma cholesterol and reduced oil infiltration in liver and aorta. Mechanistically, E. officinalis increased peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors-alpha (PPAR alpha) expression and increased activity of lipid oxidation through carnitine palmitoyl transferase (CPT) along with decreased activity of hepatic lipogenic enzymes i.e. glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), fatty acid synthase (FAS) and malic enzyme (ME). Additionally, E. officinalis increased cholesterol uptake through increased LDL-receptor expressions on hepatocytes and decreased LDL-receptor degradation due to decreased proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) expression. Simultaneously, E. officinalis showed ability to restore glucose homeostasis through increased Glut4 and PPAR. protein expression in adipose tissue. These findings exposed central role of gallic acid in E. officinalis arbitrated anti-hyperlipidemic action through upregulation of PPARs, Glut4 and lipogenic enzymes, and decreased expression of PCSK9 and lipogenic enzymes. Findings from this experiment demonstrated that E. officinalis is a potential therapy for management of hyperlipidemia and gallic acid could be a potential lead candidate.