Effect of Flax Seed Oil on Acute Carbon Tetrachloride-induced Hepatic Injury and Determination of Hepatic Apoptosis in Rats

Aims: The present study was designed to evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of flaxseed oil (FSO) on liver lesions induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) in rats by measurement of caspase 3, 8 and 9 activities in cellular apoptosis, ALT activities, triglyceride, total protein, total cholesterol and liver MDA levels.

Place and Duration of Study: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Pathology, Erciyes University, Kayseri, between June 2017 and July 2018.

Methodology: In this study 32 male Wistar albino rats were divided into four groups of 8 animals in each. The first group was identified as the control and received an intraperitoneal 0.9% NaCl and the second group was given per os at dose of 4 ml/kg FSO for 4 weeks. The third group received an intraperitoneal dose of 1.0 ml/kg CCl4 twice in the first week. The fourth group received an intraperitoneal dose of 1.0 ml/kg CCl4 twice in the first week and simultaneously 4 ml/kg FSO by gavage for 4 weeks.

Results: Histopathological examination of CCl4 group showed intense macro and micro vesicular steatosis in hepatocytes, necrosis, lymphocytes rich mononuclear cell infiltration in portal area and parenchyma. The flaxseed oil application did not ameliorate the histological changes induced by CCl4, however reduced the activity of caspase 3, 8 and 9 by a limited number. CCl4 administration produced significantly elevated levels of serum ALT activity, total cholesterol, triglyceride and liver MDA levels, and these increases were not normalized with FSO treatment. In addition, decreased serum total protein levels in CCl4 treated group were ameliorated by FSO application.

Conclusion: The results indicate that the antioxidant properties of FSO do not have an ameliorative effect in either the histopathological lesions or biochemical parameters against CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity in rats. In addition, it was concluded that duration‐dependent further research results are needed to determine the effects of flaxseed oil in high doses that can give the best results without side effects.