Flaxseed: A potential treatment for lupus nephritis

Abstract

Flaxseed is rich in alpha-linolenic acid (alpha-LA) which has anti-atherogenic properties, and lignans which are platelet activating factor (PAF)-receptor antagonists. These constituents of flaxseed, and its beneficial effects in the MRL/lpr lupus mouse prompted us to perform this dosing study in lupus nephritis patients. Nine patients were enrolled, eight of whom completed the study. After the baseline studies, patients were given 15, 30, and 45 g of flaxseed/day sequentially at four week intervals, followed by a five-week washout period. Compliance, disease activity, blood pressure, plasma lipids, rheology, PAF-induced platelet aggregation, renal function, and serum immunology were assessed. Flaxseed-sachet count and a significant increase of serum alpha-LA indicated good compliance for 15 and 30 g doses. Total and LDL cholesterol, and blood viscosity were significantly reduced with 30 g and to a lesser extent 45 g doses. PAF-induced platelet aggregation was inhibited by all doses. There was a significant decline in serum creatinine with 30 and 45 g, and a concomitant increase in creatinine clearance with increasing flaxseed dose. Proteinuria was reduced with 30 g and to a lesser extent with 45 g of flaxseed. Complement C3 was significantly elevated by all three doses. CD11b expression on neutrophils, a measure of C3bi receptors, was significantly reduced with the 30 g dose. In conclusion, 30 g flaxseed/day was well tolerated and conferred benefit in terms of renal function as well as inflammatory and atherogenic mechanisms important in the pathogenesis of lupus nephritis.

Effect of randomized supplementation with high dose olive, flax or fish oil on serum phospholipid fatty acid levels in adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

“…Flax oil supplementation resulted in minor changes in omega-3 fatty acid levels, mainly the short-chain fatty acid α-LNA. These results are consistent with earlier publications suggesting increases in plasma α-LNA with both flax seed [49,50] and flax oil [51,52] supplementation of humans. Non-significant increases in the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DPA with flax oil supplementation were also observed in this study.…”

“…Previous work with flaxseed or flax oil supplementation resulted in increased plasma EPA and/or docosapentaenoic acid (DPA; 22:5n-3) [49][50][51][52]. A 10%-100% increase in EPA and 5%-25% increase in DPA with flax oil supplementation was noted in these studies [49][50][51][52], compared with the increase of 66% and 63% observed in our study, respectively. Flax oil supplementation caused a decrease in the AA/ EPA ratio to 6.4, 3.7 fold higher than the AA/EPA ratio observed in the Japanese population.…”

Bioavailability of α-linolenic acid from flaxseed diets as a function of the age of the subject

“…Others (Finnegan et al, 2003a, b) reported an increase in plasma ALA with 4.5 and 9.5 g of ALA per day supplementation after 3 and 6 months in groups with an average age of B50 years. Studies for this age group using ground flaxseed have been carried out in patients with lupus nephritis (Clark et al, 1995(Clark et al, , 2001) and in hypercholesterolemic postmenopausal women (Arjmandi et al, 1998;Lemay et al, 2002). In most of these investigations, ALA concentrations were increased after the dietary supplementation.…”

Evaluation of the therapeutic effect of <em>Nigella sativa</em> crude oil and its blend with omega-3 fatty acid-rich oils in a modified hepatorenal syndrome model in rats

“…Mohamed et al (2005) showed that flaxseed produced a reduction in plasma T-ch and LDL-ch in hyper-cholesterolemic rats. The same effect was reported for the consumption of flaxseed in humans (Clark et al, 1995;Jenkins et al, 1999). ALA, which is an omega-3-fatty acid, has been reported to be useful in the prevention and treatment of coronary artery disease and hypertension (Simopoulos, 1999).…”

“…ALA also reduces serum triglycerides and the development of thrombosis and arteriosclerosis (Pszczola, 1998). Also, flaxseed was shown to have an impact on the treatment of lupus nephritis (Clark et al, 1995) in humans and improvement of renal dysfunction during cisplatin treatment in rats (Al-Okbi et al, 2014), pointing to its reno-protective effect. Flaxseed oil attenuated the decline in renal function and reduced glomerular injury (Caligiuri et al, 2013).…”