Effect of Aqueous Extract of Embelica officinalis on Selenite Induced Cataract in Rats

Cataract is clouding of the eye lens that reduces the amount of incoming light and results in deteriorating vision. Blindness is thought to reach 75 million by 2020. Of these, unoperated cataract may be expected to account for at least 35 million. Thus, the burden of cataract is increasing remorselessly. Embelica officinalis is reported to have a very good antioxidant property and thus we hypothesized that it could be a good candidate in treatment of cataract. Hence, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of aqueous extract of Embelica officinalis on selenite induced cataract in rats. For the purpose of this study, cataract was induced in young suckling (on the 10(th) day of life) albino wistar rats using sodium selenite (a single dose of sodium selenite; 20 mu M/kg; subcutaneously). After induction of cataract, the test drug (Embelica Officinalis) and the reference standard (ascorbic acid) were administered orally for 18 days. The progression or disappearance of cataract was observed with the help of an ophthalmoscope (OM-18, Takagi resolution 1.6). At the end of this study the alterations in the levels of total protein, soluble protein, reduced glutathione and malondialdehyde were estimated in the lens homogenate. Results showed that treatment with Embelica officinalis, as well as ascorbic acid, produced a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in malondialdehyde and a simultaneous increase in lens glutathione levels (p < 0.05). The malondialdehyde content was decreased by 48% in animals treated with Embelica officinalis. Similarly, lens glutathione was increased by 82.5% in animals treated with Embelica officinalis. There was also a significant (p < 0.05) increase in protein content (total protein = 59.36% and soluble protein = 105.78%) in animals treated with Embelica officinalis, indicating improvement in cataractogenic condition in the selenite induced cataract model. At the end of the treatment, disappearance of cataract was observed in test and standard treated animals. In conclusion, it could be said that aqueous extract of Embelica officinalis delayed the progression of cataract in sodium selenite induced cataractogenic rats.