Abstract
BackgroundFlaxseed has emerged as a potential source of bioactive components that can be utilized in routine diet to address lifestyle disorders.MethodsIn this context, three studies were carried out on the basis of induction therapies i.e. Study I (Normal diet), Study II (Hyperglycemic diet; 40% sucrose) and Study III (Hypercholesterolemic diet; 1.5% cholesterol) using Sprague Dawley rats. Each study was further split into three groups based on diets; Control (free from flaxseed powder or extract), Functional diet (incorporation of flaxseed powder; 10%) and Nutraceutical diet (inclusion of ethanolic extract of flaxseed; 5%). During experimental period, hyperglycemic and hyperlipidemic parameters were evaluated alongside, alterations in hematological aspects were also assessed.ResultsFeed intake and body weight demonstrated significant response (p < 0.05) of diets and study intervals however, water intake was substantially influenced by study intervals. In study II (hyperglycemic rats), maximum decline in glucose level was recorded (9.02%) in rats administered with extract based diet. In the same group, maximum increase in insulin (5.90%) was noted. Regarding lipid profile, the bioevaluation trials revealed maximum reduction in serum cholesterol (13.10%) in study III (hypercholesterolemic rats) on the provision of flaxseed extract (nutraceutical diet) followed by flaxseed powder (functional diet) i.e. 7.85%. Further, maximum decrease in low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-c) was reported i.e. 14.28% on supplementation of flaxseed extract to hypercholesterolemic rats.ConclusionsThus, flaxseed extract based intervention has shown higher bioefficacy to address hyperglycemia and hypercholesterolemia in comparison to flaxseed powder.
Highlights
Flaxseed has emerged as a potential source of bioactive components that can be utilized in routine diet to address lifestyle disorders
The trend of consumers towards natural cure through dietary modification is the reason for the immense popularity of nutraceuticals and functional foods
secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG) molecules linked together to form lignan oligomers called as lignan macromolecules [13, 14]
Summary
Flaxseed (Linum usitatissimum) is an annual species of the Linaceae family. It is a worthy source of high quality proteins, soluble fiber and polyunsaturated fatty acids [7]. Microflora in large intestine deglycosylate lignans after digestion and transformed them into mammalian lignans known as enterodiol (END) and enterolactone (ENL). These metabolites possess high antioxidant activity resultantly suppress mRNA expression of sterol regulatory element binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c), that modulates the activity of cholesterol and fatty acid synthetase enzymes likely to control hypercholesterolemia. Lignans are recovered through solvent extraction technique, usually with organic solvents like acetone, methanol and ethanol as these phenolic compounds are polar in nature [16]
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