Synergistic hepatoprotective effects of ω-3 and ω-6 fatty acids from Indian flax and sesame seed oils against CCl₄-induced oxidative stress-mediated liver damage in rats

Abstract

Flaxseed (FS) and sesame seed (SS) are traditional and functional foods in traditional Indian medicine for treating various disorders. The present study investigated the hepatoprotective effects of bioactive-fatty acids (FAs) from FS and SS against carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄)-induced hepatic damage in rats. Pre and post-treatments for 28 consecutive days significantly increased the activities of in vivo antioxidant enzymes such as catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and peroxidase (POX), whereas, lipid peroxidation (LPO) activity was markedly decreased in a dose-dependent manner in liver and kidneys. A significant reduction was observed in the hematological parameters like aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and total bilirubin in the serum of post-treated animals compared to the negative control. The results were confirmed histopathologically. The results suggested that the ω-3 and ω-6 FAs from flaxseed oil (FSO) and sesame seed oil (SSO), respectively, showed potential synergistic hepatoprotective and antioxidant effects that were mediated mainly by ω-3 and ω-6 FAs present in the respective seed oils.

Graphical Abstract

Highlights

• ALA and LA ω-3 and ω-6 FAs rich oils from FSO an SSO respectively, mitigated the hepatotoxicity induced by CCl4.

• The in vitro and in vivo studies have revealed that the combination of FSO + SSO significantly increased the hepatic antioxidant enzymes like CAT, SOD, POX, and decreased MDA levels in the liver and kidneys of CCl4 induced rats.

• Co-treatment of FSO + SSO shown more synergistic antioxidant potential compared to their individual treatments.

Keywords:

• Flaxseed
• sesame seed
• polyunsaturated fatty acids
• combinatorial
• hepatotoxicity

Acknowledgements

The authors' sincere gratitude to Dr. Suma Mogali, Scientist, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, India for providing oilseed samples. The authors thank Dr. Suresh Kumar G, Senior Scientist, CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysuru, India for his help with GC-MS analysis and interpretation of data. Mr. SCG is grateful to the Special cell, University of Mysore, Mysuru, India for providing fellowship to carry out this research work.

Author contributions

SCG, TA, AB, KCM, and RJ conceived and designed the study. SCG, TA, and AB performed the experiments and collected the data. SCG, TA, AB, KCM and RJ analyzed and/or interpreted the data. SCG, TA, AB and KCM drafted the manuscript. SCG, TA, KCM and RJ revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content. SCG wrote the manuscript, and all the authors have read and approved the final manuscript before its submission.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).