Flaxseed and Its Components in Treatment of Hyperlipidemia and Cardiovascular Disease
Kailash Prasad, Amal Khan, Muhammad Shoker
Abstract
This paper describes the effects of flaxseed and its components (flax oil, secoisolariciresinoldiglucoside[SDG], flax lignan complex [FLC], and flax fibers] on serum lipids (total cholesterol [TC], low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol [LDL-C], high-density lipoprotein cholesterol [HDL-C], and triglycerides [TG]) in animals and humans. Ordinary flaxseed reduces TG, TC, LDL-C, and TC/HDL-C levels in a dose-dependent manner in animals. In humans, it reduces serum lipids in hypercholesterolemicpatients but has no effects in normocholesterolemicpatients. Flax oil has variable effects on serum lipids in normo- and hypercholesterolemic animals. Flax oil treatment, with a dosage containing greater than 25 g/day of α-linolenic acid, reduces serum lipids in humans. Although FLC reduces serum lipids and raises serum HDL-C in animals, its effects on serum lipids in humans are small and variable. Flax fibers exert small effects on serum lipids in humans. Crop Development Centre (CDC)-flaxseed, which contains low concentrations of α-linolenic acid, has significant lipid lowering effects in animals. Pure SDG has potent hypolipidemic effects and raises HDL-C. In conclusion, flaxseed and pure SDG have significant lipid-lowering effects in animals and humans, while other components of flaxseed have small and variable effects.