Emblica officinalis and hepatocarcinogenesis: a chemopreventive study in Wistar rats

Emblica officinalis L. commonly known as gooseberry, Phyllanthus emblica, Emblica, Indian gooseberry, amla is used in Indian system of medicine for the treatment of liver ailments.

In the present study, we report that it ameliorates the carcinogenic response as it reverses the histopathological changes and reduces the number of gamma-GT-positive foci induced by Solt Farber protocol in the liver of Wistar rats.

Tumors were induced by initiation with diethylnitrosoamine (DEN) (200 mg/kg body wt., i.p.) followed by promotion with 2-acetylaminoflourine (2-AAF) (0.02%, w/w in diet) for continuous 6 weeks and the animals were subjected to partial hepatectomy on day 21 of initiation.

Pretreatment with defatted methanolic fruit extract (100 and 200mg/kg b.w.) of Emblica officinalis showed significant partial recovery of pathological manifestations as compared to DEN and 2-AAF-treated group animals (p<0.001) and suppressed the tumor forming potential of 2-AAF (p<0.05) at both the doses.

Emblica officinalis has the potential to suppress carcinogen-induced response in rat liver.