The Influence of Flaxseed on the body weight of Wistar Ovarioctomized Rats

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the influence of flaxseed for a long period of time and its hormonal effects of weight loss in castrated rats. Methods: We used 21 Wistar rats that underwent bilateral oophorectomy for induction of menopause, randomly divided into three groups: control group (CG) (n = 7), which received a diet based on casein 10 percent; flaxseed group, that received a diet based on casein plus 25 percent of flaxseed (FG) (n = 7); and modified control group, that received a diet based on modified casein 10 percent and with addition of lipid and fibers (CGM) (n = 7). All diets were prepared according to the recommendations of the AIN 93, the animals were kept under controlled temperature (22ºC ± 2ºC) and adequate lighting (light/dark cycle of 12 to 12 hours). The animals received food and water (ad libitum). The rats were anesthetized with Thiopentax® for blood collection by cardiac puncture for the determination of 17β-estradiol and collection of tissues (liver, bladder and uterus). Data was applied to statistical analysis using the nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis test and applied post hoc Mann-Whitney U for two by two comparison through Software S-Plus version 8.0, with the level of 0.05 for the significant differences. Results: The results show that the concentration of 17β-estradiol of FG was 40.2 percent higher than the CG and 25.77 percent higher than CGM, suggesting the estrogenic action of the flaxseed. In the body weight of the animals there were significant differences, suggesting a greater weight of the GC. There were no significant differences in the relative liver (p=0.2405) and bladder (p=0.7734) weight between the groups, andt there was no significant difference in the relative weight of the uterus (p=0.7922) between the casein and flaxseed groups. Conclusion: The consumption of 25 percent of flaxseed during menopause influenced on body weight, suggesting a phytoestrogen action in the consumption of seeds during the physiological stage.