Hypolipidemic and Hepatoprotective Effects of Linum usitatissimum L. Seeds on Hypercholesterolemic Rats

Abstract

Hyperlipidaemia is a chronic, progressive disease characterised by a variety of genetic and acquired conditions that result in abnormally elevated lipid levels in humans. Several preclinical and clinical studies have shown that dietary supplementation with Linum Usitatissimum has beneficial cardiovascular effects such as antihypertensive action, antiatherogenic effects, cholesterol lowering, anti-inflammatory action, and arrhythmia inhibition. Few studies have been conducted on the hepatoprotective effects of flax seeds in hyperlipidemic animal models. This study was undertaken to evaluate the hypolipidemic and hepatoprotective effect of Linum seeds. The study was carried out for the period of two months in Department of Pharmacology KIMS, Bhubaneswar. A total of 36 Albino wistar rats were collected and divided into six groups of six rats each. Group II was hypercholesterolemic (HC) control, Group III was treatment control and Group IV to VI rats were given different doses of extract. At the end of two months, there is a significant decrease in lipid parameters and liver enzymes in all three groups receiving the extract, where the highest dose of extract used is comparable to the standard drug. This study concludes that adding flaxseeds to the diet may alleviate the rise in circulating cholesterol levels caused by a high cholesterol diet due to their content of alfa-linolenic acid (ALA) and lignins. This study also showed that flaxseed has a hepatoprotective role in hypercholesterolaemia.