A Diet Rich in Whole Grain Flaxseeds has Antithrombotic Effects Without Increasing Oxidative Stress in Experimental Atherosclerosis

Abstract

We hypothesized that high doses of flaxseed used for antithrombotic effects could increase oxidative stress and vitamin E was added to prevent the lipid oxidation. Therefore, we investigated platelet functions and oxidative stress in ovariectomized hamsters fed on high-fat diet supplemented with flaxseeds and/or vitamin E. Eighty six months-old Golden Syrian hamsters were either sham-operated (Sham) or ova-riectomized (Ovx) and received one of the following diets: 1. high-fat diet (40 % energy as fat); 2. high-fat diet supplemented with flaxseed (15 g Linum usitatissimum /100 g of food) (Linum); 3. high-fat diet supplemented with vitamin E (40 mg alpha-tocopherol/100 g of food) (E); 4. high-fat diet supplemented with flaxseed and vitamin E (Linum+E) for 8 weeks. The ovariectomized groups fed on Linum/Vitamin E enriched diet showed a less advanced stage of atherosclerosis lesions and decreased aortic cholesterol content as compared to the high-fat diet group. The addition of flaxseed led to a significant decreased platelet adhesion in Ovx group. In Ovx hamsters, serum and liver TBARS were significantly decreased and liver GSH was significantly increased by supplementation of diet with flaxseed and combined diet augmented the antioxidative effect of flaxseed. The combined diet (Linum + vitamin E) did not seem to bring more benefits than flaxseed alone. Our results demonstrated that cardio-protective effect of high doses of ground flaxseed could be due to its antiplatelet and antioxidative effects and the addition of supplementary antioxidant is not required.