Effects of Dietary Flaxseed on Vascular Contractile Function and Atherosclerosis During Prolonged Hypercholesterolemia in Rabbits.
From: Canadian Centre for Agri-Food Research in Health and Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology
- Publish Date: Dec 2006
- ISSN: 0363-6135
- Volume: 291
- Issue: 6
- Pages: H2987-96
- Medium: Print
- Language: English
- Citation (JAMA): Dupasquier C M C, Weber A-M, Ander B P, et al. Effects of Dietary Flaxseed on Vascular Contractile Function and Atherosclerosis During Prolonged Hypercholesterolemia in Rabbits.. Am. J. Physiol. Heart Circ. Physiol. Dec 2006;291:H2987-96
Abstract
Dietary flaxseed has significant anti-atherogenic effects. However, the limits of this action and its effects on vascular contractile function are not known. We evaluated the effects of flaxseed supplementation on atherosclerosis and vascular function under prolonged hypercholesterolemic conditions in New Zealand White rabbits assigned to one of four groups for 6, 8, or 16 wk of feeding: regular diet (RG), 10% flaxseed-supplemented diet (FX), 0.5% cholesterol-supplemented diet (CH), and 0.5% cholesterol- and 10% flaxseed-supplemented diet (CF). Cholesterol feeding resulted in elevated plasma cholesterol levels and the development of atherosclerosis. The CF group had significantly less atherosclerotic lesions in the aorta and carotid arteries after 6 and 8 wk than the CH animals. However, the anti-atherogenic effect of flaxseed supplementation was completely attenuated by 16 wk. Maximal tension induced in aortic rings either by KCl or norepinephrine was not impaired by dietary cholesterol until 16 wk. This functional impairment was not prevented by including flaxseed in the high-cholesterol diet. Aortic rings from the cholesterol-fed rabbits exhibited an impaired relaxation response to acetylcholine at all time points examined. Including flaxseed in the high-cholesterol diet completely normalized the relaxation response at 6 and 8 wk and partially restored it at 16 wk. No significant changes in the relaxation response induced by sodium nitroprusside were observed in any of the groups. In summary, dietary flaxseed is a valuable strategy to limit cholesterol-induced atherogenesis as well as abnormalities in endothelial-dependent vasorelaxation. However, these beneficial effects were attenuated during prolonged hypercholesterolemic conditions.
Mesh Headings (Keywords): Animals, Aorta, Carotid Arteries, Cholesterol, Cholesterol, Dietary, Coronary Artery Disease, Dietary Supplements, Fatty Acids, Flax, Hypercholesterolemia, Male, Nitroprusside, Rabbits, Triglycerides, Vasoconstriction, Vasodilator Agents
Check for Full Text / PubMed Unique Identifier (PMID): 16844912
This abstract is part of PubMed, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. PubMed includes more than 17 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for biomedical articles. See Copyright and Disclaimers.
Linked medical terms appearing on this page are added by Healia to help readers find more information and are not part of the original PubMed document.
The data herein was last updated on July 8th, 2008 and may not reflect the most current and accurate data available from NLM.