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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 294/3/H1452    most recent 01280.2007v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Othman, R. A. Articles by Moghadasian, M. H. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Othman, R. A. Articles by Moghadasian, M. H.

A comparison of the effects of fish oil and flaxseed oil on cardiac allograft chronic rejection in rats

Departments of ¹Human Nutritional Sciences and ²Pathology, ³Canadian Centre for Agri-Food Research in Health and Medicine, ⁴Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, and ⁵Cardiology Division, Cardiac Sciences Department, University of Manitoba and Saint Boniface General Hospital Research Centre, Winnipeg, Canada

Submitted 1 November 2007 ; accepted in final form 22 January 2008

Both fish and flaxseed oils are major sources of different n-3 fatty acids. Beneficial effects of fish oil on posttransplantation complications have been reported. The current study aimed to compare the effects of flaxseed and fish oils in a rat cardiac allograft model. Male Fischer and Lewis rats were used as donors and recipients, respectively, to generate a heterotopic cardiac allograft model. Animals were randomly assigned into three groups and fed a diet supplemented with 1) 5% (wt/wt) safflower oil (control, n = 7), 2) 5% (wt/wt) flaxseed oil (n = 8), or 3) 2% (wt/wt) fish oil (n = 7), and an intraperitoneal injection of cyclosporine A (CsA; 1.5 mg·kg^–1·day^–1) over 12 wk. Body weight, blood pressure, plasma levels of lipids, CsA, select cytokines, as well as graft function and chronic rejection features were assessed. Body weight and blood CsA levels were similar among the groups. Relative to controls, both treated groups had lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure and plasma levels of macrophage chemotactic protein-1. Treatment with fish oil significantly (P < 0.05) lowered plasma levels of triglycerides, total cholesterol, and LDL-cholesterol. HDL-cholesterol concentrations were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in the flaxseed oil-treated group compared with the other two groups. Both flaxseed oil and fish oil may provide similar biochemical, hemodynamic, and inflammatory benefits after heart transplantation; however, neither of the oils was able to statistically significantly impact chronic rejection or histological evidence of apparent cyclosporine-induced nephrotoxicity in this model.

inflammation; hypertension