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.
Keywords: Flaxseed; combinatorial; hepatotoxicity; polyunsaturated fatty acids; sesame seed.