Supplementation of whole grain flaxseeds (Linum usitatissimum) along with high cholesterol diet and its effect on hyperlipidemia and initiated atherosclerosis in Wistar albino male rats

Abstract

Background and Aim:Flaxseeds are known to have varying antihypercholesterolemic and antiatherogenic activity due to its lignan secoisolariciresinol diglucoside, alpha-linolenic acid, and omega-3 fatty acids. The beneficial effect of whole grain dietary flaxseed was evaluated experimentally in high cholesterol diet (HCD)-fed Wistar albino rats.Materials and Methods:Male Wistar albino rats (200 g) were divided into four groups of 12 rats each. Group I rats kept as control and given basal rat chew diet, Group II as positive control for induction of hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis by addition of 1% cholesterol and 15% saturated edible oil to the 1000 g of standard rat chew diet (HCD), Group III rats fed with whole grain flaxseed powder at 7.5 g/kg of rat/day in the standard rat chew diet and kept as flaxseed control, and Group IV rats supplemented with flaxseed at 7.5 g/kg of rat/day along with HCD and maintained for 90 days.Results:Group II rats revealed significantly (p<0.05) higher total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and very LDL-C and significantly (p<0.05) reduced levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), whereas tissue antioxidants such as catalase, superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR), and glutathione S transferase (GST) were significantly (p<0.05) reduced, and lipid peroxidation products of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) level were nonsignificantly (p<0.05) increased in the heart and liver tissues. Flaxseeds supplementation along with HCD significantly ameliorated the serum levels of TC, TG, LDL-C, and HDL-C along with cellular antioxidant enzymes such as catalase, SOD, GPx, GR, GST, and non-significant amelioration of TBARS in the heart and liver tissues compared to Group II rats. Majority of the histopathologically initiated atherosclerotic changes in the aorta and fatty change in the liver of Group II were not observed in the flaxseed supplemented Group IV; however, interestingly proliferation of endothelial cells with new vascular channel formation in the liver and in between cardiac muscle fibers was observed in Group I and Group IV rats.Conclusion:The present study established the hypercholesterolemia with initiated atherosclerotic lesion in the aorta but unable to establish the atheromatous plaque in the aorta. Flaxseed supplementation along with HCD showed significant antihypercholesterolemic effect and ameliorated the changes of initiated atherosclerosis in the aorta. It needs further studies to explore all the possible beneficial effects and angiogenic properties of flaxseeds in the laboratory animals and human trials.

Ameliorative Effect of Garden Cress (Lepidium sativum L.) Seeds Ethanolic Extract on High Fat Diet-prompted Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in the Rat Model: Impact on 3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-Coenzyme A Reductase and Vascular Endothelial Growth Facto

“…Hypercholesterolemia may be caused by an increased uptake of exogenous cholesterol and increased esterification of free fatty acids. HMGCR is the regulator for cholesterol synthesis; however, similar to previous studies, we observed an upregulation in the rate of expression of this particular gene upon administration of HFD in rats ( Jiang et al, 2018;Naik et al, 2018). Hyper-triacylglyceridemia may be due to inhibition of 7a-hydroxylase activity (Beigneux et al, 2002).…”

Secoisolariciresinol Diglucoside Exerts Anti-Inflammatory and Antiapoptotic Effects through Inhibiting the Akt/IκB/NF-κB Pathway on Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells

“…The secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG), a plant lignan isolated from flaxseed, exerts a cytoprotective effect. Studies have confirmed that SDG suppresses dextran sulfate sodium salt-induced colitis [11], serves as an anti-inflammatory and barrier-protective agent in neuroinflammation [12], and exerts antihypercholesterolemic [13] and also angiogenesis and cardioprotection against ischemia-reperfusion injury [14]. In addition, SDG are effective in lowering blood pressure in individuals with hypertension and metabolic syndrome [15] and exert prevention and treatment of arrhythmias and ventricular remodeling postmyocardial infarction [16].…”

Improvement in serum lipids and liver morphology after supplementation of the diet with fish oil is more evident under regular feeding conditions than under high-fat or mixed diets in rats

“…The sixth group (CA2: combined alternative 2) received HFD with no FO for the first 14 days, both n-3 PUFAs and the HFD from days 15-28; during the last 2 weeks of the experiment (days [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42], the animals in this group received the SD and 25 mg/kg/day n-3 PUFAs (Table 1).…”

“…P < 0.05 was considered significant. 42, indicating that n-3 PUFAs offer significant protection against excessive weight gain (WG) under HFD conditions (P < 0.001, HFD vs. HFD + n3 groups). In the CA1 group, the BW increase was higher than that observed in the n3 group (P < 0.01) and lower than that observed in the HFD group (P < 0.001); for the CA2 group, it was higher than that in the n3 group (P < 0.01) and lower than that in the HFD group (P < 0.01).…”