Prevention of endotoxin-induced uveitis in rabbits by Triphala, an Ayurvedic formulation

Purpose: Triphala (TA) is an Ayurvedic formulation used to treat various disorders. The present study was designed to investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of TA aqueous extract on experimental uveitis in the rabbit. Methods: Anterior uveitis was induced in rabbits by intravitreal injection of lipopolysaccharide from Eschericha coli after pretreatment with TA aqueous extract. Subsequently the anti-inflammatory activity of TA was evaluated by grading the clinical signs and estimating the inflammatory cell count, protein, and TNF-α level in the aqueous humour. Results: The anterior segment inflammation in the control group was significantly higher than in TA and prednisolone treated groups, as observed by clinical grading. The inflammatory cell count in the control group was 31.23 ± 0.80 × 105cells/ml, whereas it was 3.29 ± 0.47 × 105cells/ml (P < 0.0001 vs. control) and 1.31 ± 0.31 × 105 (P < 0.0001 vs. control) cells/ml in the TA and prednisolone treated groups, respectively. The protein content of the aqueous humour was 15.43 ± 0.54, 3.13 ± 0.35 (P < 0.0001 vs. control), and 1.96 ± 0.39 (P < 0.0001 vs. control) mg/ml in the control, TA and prednisolone treated groups respectively. The aqueous TNF- α level in the control group was 942.20 ± 6.46 pg/ml and was 261.30 ± 13.60 (P < 0.001 vs. control) and 104.00 ± 4.50 (P < 0.0001 vs. control) pg/ml in the TA and prednisolone treated groups, respectively. Conclusions: Topical administration of aqueous extract of TA prevented uveitis in endotoxin-induced experimental rabbits.