Embelin from Embelia ribes ameliorates oxidative stress and inflammation in high-fat diet-fed obese C57BL/6 mice

Background: A safe, efficacious, and economical drug for the treatment of obesity is the need of the time. Literature published in previous years referred to embelin as a potential investigational therapeutic agent to manage obesity. Objectives: This study was designed to isolate and characterize embelin from Embelia ribes and further to assess its role in alleviating oxidative stress and chronic inflammation in the high-fat diet (HFD) fed obese C57BL/6 mice. Materials and Methods: Embelin extracted from berries of E. ribes with n-hexane by soxhlet extraction was characterized using high-performance thin-layer chromatography, infrared and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analyses. The obesity was induced by feeding of HFD for 8 weeks. Embelin (50 mg/kg/day, p.o.) was administered from 5th to 8th weeks along with HFD. After 8 weeks, the body weight gain and body mass index were calculated. Then, animals were sacrificed; serum and tissues were collected to further assess the various biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation. Results: The presence of embelin was confirmed using the above-mentioned analytical techniques. Treatment with Embelin showed amelioration of obesity biomarkers along with the substantial decline in levels of protein expression of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor and nuclear factor kappa-B in liver tissue. Treatment with embelin also normalizes the liver tissue levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, glutathione, superoxide dismutase, and catalase. The histopathological analysis of liver tissue showed significant prevention of necrotic and inflammatory changes in embelin treated HFD fed mice. Conclusion: The results of the study clearly indicated the potential of embelin in ameliorating obesity by alleviating oxidative stress and inflammation induced by HFD in C57BL/6 mice.