ABSTRACT

Flaxseed (FS) has been shown to have potent anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties in a variety of pathological conditions such as autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases. Although the lung is an organ susceptible to direct oxidant stress, believed to be causative in the initiation of inflammatory processes leading to subsequent tissue injury and death, the use of FS in ameliorating inflammatory lung disease has never been studied. Our group pioneered the dietary use of FS in the amelioration of acute lung injury in experimental models of acute lung injury. Our studies indicated that a 10% dietary FS supplementation for at least 3 weeks prior to lung insult is sufficient to ameliorate adverse lung parameters such as inflammatory cell influx into the lung, pulmonary edema and oxidative lung modification resulting from acid aspiration, pneumonitis and prolonged hyperoxic lung injury. Injury resulting from intratracheal instillation of bacterial toxin LPS was not ameliorated. This paper provides an overview of our recent findings (1) .