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Dietary flaxseed oil reduces adipocyte size and modifies inflammatory marker monocyte chemotactic protein‐1 in obese Zucker rats
Author(s) -
Enns Jennifer Emily,
Baranowski Maria,
Zahradka Peter,
Taylor Carla
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.25.1_supplement.722.1
Obesity is characterized by low‐grade chronic inflammation and enlarged, dysfunctional adipocytes which express an altered adipokine and cytokine profile relative to their healthy counterparts. Flaxseed oil is rich in the omega‐3 fatty acid α‐linolenic acid (ALA). Dietary intervention with omega‐3 fatty acids has been shown to improve the inflammatory profile. We investigated whether flaxseed oil could effectively reduce inflammation and adipocyte dysfunction in obesity. Male Zucker rats (17 wk old) were assigned to lean control (lnCTL), fa/fa control (faCTL), or fa/fa + ALA‐rich flaxseed oil (faALA) diets for 8 wks and adipose tissue (AT) was collected for analysis by morphometry, Western blotting and ELISA. Adipocytes in epididymal AT from faCTL were nearly double in size compared to lnCTL, while adipocyte size was diminished by 17% in faALA compared to faCTL. Monocyte chemotactic protein‐1 (MCP‐1) was increased 3‐fold in the peri‐renal AT of faCTL compared to lnCTL. Flaxseed oil intervention in fa/fa rats reduced MCP‐1 levels to match those of lnCTL. However, levels of other inflammatory markers (F4/80, IL‐6, IL‐10) in AT and adipokines (leptin, adiponectin) in serum were not affected by flaxseed oil intervention. Omega‐3 fatty acids, administered as ALA‐rich flaxseed oil, reduced adipocyte size and beneficially modulated the inflammatory process in AT in a rodent model of obesity. Funding provided by Agri‐food Research Development Initiative and NSERC.