Abstract

Globally, metabolic syndrome has increased a lot and affecting people of the productive age group. The fruits of Emblica officinalis or Phyllanthus emblica colloquially known as Amla or Indian gooseberry and their active components have been investigated and observed to be beneficial. Amla possesses beneficial effects against metabolic syndrome in both preclinical, and clinical studies. Amla decreases the components of metabolic syndrome like blood pressure, glucose levels, obesity, and cholesterol levels. Moreover, hepatic triacylglycerol, total cholesterol, and oxidative stress were also attenuated by amla treatment. Amla was found to augment adiponectin levels in adipocytes and hepatic PPAR-α levels as well as decline hepatic regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP-1c) expression caused by high-fat diet in rats. Amla possesses gallic acid, ellagic acid, and polyphenol, which are also beneficial. Amla possesses anti-inflammatory properties by downregulating the expression of pERK, TNF-α, pP38, IL6, COX2, and NOX-4 in metabolic syndrome. Furthermore, amla acts through liver X receptor (LXR), farnesoid X receptor (FXR), PPARγ, cEBPα, FABP4 cyclo-oxygenase-2, SREBP-1c, and NF-κB to improve the components of metabolic syndrome. This chapter analyses the encouraging properties of Amla fruit, and its phytoconstituents in metabolic syndrome.