DOES EXCESSIVE CONSUMPTION OF FLAXSEED (LINUM USITATISSIMUM L.) CAUSE A LIVER DAMAGE IN RAT MODELS?

Özgöçmen M., Yeşilot Ş.

Med J SDU / SDÜ Tıp Fak Derg, cilt.28, sa.2, ss.333-341, 2021 (Hakemli Dergi)

Özet

Objective Natural health products and functional foods are frequently consumed for the prevention and treatment of many diseases. Flaxseed is one of the functional foods with anticancer, antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal properties. In addition to its beneficial effects, excessive consumption without considering the appropriate dosage can cause toxic effects. In this study, it was planned to investigate the effects of different amounts of flaxseed consumption on rat liver. Materials and Methods Rats were randomly divided into four groups with 8 rats in each groups; control group and experimental groups which given flaxseed for 7 days; 1.4, 2.8 and 5.6 g/kg/day, respectively. At the end of the experiment, histological, immunohistochemical and biochemical analyzes were performed on tissue and blood samples. Results Serum AST, ALT and ALP values are significantly higher in 5.6 g/kg of flaxseed compared to control group (p values 0.003, 0.012 and 0.009, respectively). Albumin values were significantly lower in experimental groups compared to the control group (p<0.05). TOS and OSI increased significantly (p<0.05), TAS decreased (p>0.05) in all experimental groups compared to control. In histopathological findings, there was significant difference in three groups compared to control group, especially in 5.6 g/kg of flaxseed group compared to others. As a result of immunohistochemical analyzes, staining intensity of the receptors was highest in 5.6 g/kg of flaxseed group. The highest positive staining was observed respectively in NOX4 , iNOS, TNF-α and IL-6. Conclusion These results show that excessive consumption of flaxseed can cause oxidative stress and toxicity due to inflammation in the liver and this study can helpful other studies about flaxseed toxicity.