Open Access Research Article Journal of Vascular Medicine & Surgery J ou r n a l o f V a s c u l a r M e d i c i n e & S u r g e r y ISSN: 2329-6925 Teker et al., Vasc Med Surg 2017, 5:5 DOI: 10.4172/2329-6925.1000338 Volume 5 • Issue 5 • 1000338 J Vasc Med Surg, an open access journal ISSN: 2329-6925 *Corresponding author: Melike Elif Teker, MD, Biruni University Hospital, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Beşyol Avenue, No: 10, Post code: 34295, Istanbul, Turkey, Tel: 0090(212)4448276; Fax: 0090(212)5313636; E-mail: melikelif_teker@hotmail.com Received July 15, 2017; Accepted September 13, 2017; Published September 20, 2017 Citation: Teker ME, İnan B, İnan Ö (2017) Investigation of the Impact of Flaxseed (Linum Usitatissimum) on the Lower Extremity Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in a Hypercholesterolemic Rat Model. J Vasc Med Surg 5: 338. doi: 10.4172/2329- 6925.1000338 Copyright: © 2017 Teker ME, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Investigation of the Impact of Flaxseed (Linum Usitatissimum) on the Lower Extremity Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in a Hypercholesterolemic Rat Model Melike Elif Teker 1 *, Bekir İnan 2 and Öznur İnan 3 1 Biruni University Hospital, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Istanbul, Turkey 2 Bezmialem University Hospital, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Istanbul, Turkey 3 Mehmet Akif Ersoy Hospıtal, Department of Laboratory Animal Clinic, Istanbul, Turkey Keywords: Lower extremity; Ischemia/reperfusion injury; Flaxseed; Hyper-cholesterolemia; Rat Introduction Ischemia is a condition in which the circulation fails to provide the oxygen and other metabolites required by the tissue, and to eliminate the waste products [1]. Reperfusion is the recovery of blood fow and oxygen to a hypoxic tissue [2]. Restoring the circulation in extremities following acute extremity ischemia is associated with severe tissue injury and systemic complications [3]. Te free oxygen radicals produced upon reperfusion of the extremity which has remained ischemic for a long time rapidly increases lipid peroxidation by interacting with the endothelium and neutrophils, thereby inducing several local and systemic efects [4]. Te efects of oxygen metabolites observed during reperfusion lead to impairment in the function and morphology of the membrane lipids [5]. Reperfusion triggers the onset of a complex infammatory cycle and thus an injury to the extremity itself and certain target tissues [6]. Flaxseed (L. Usitatissimum) contains ligans, particularly the Secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG) [7,8]. Te isolated SDG lignan is involved in cholesterol metabolism, and reduces the amount of cholesterol and cholesterol esters stored in the liver [9]. In addition, the fatty acid alpha-linoleic acid (ALA), the precursor of Omega-3, is found abundantly in faxseed [10,11], in the present study, we aimed to investigate the efect of faxseed (L. Usitatissimum) in a hypercholesterolemic lower extremity ischemia-reperfusion rat model. Additionally, the relationship between oxidative stress markers and blood cholesterol parameters were compared between groups with or without faxseed supplementation. Material and Method Tirty-eight female Wistar rats weighing 200 to 250 grams on average, obtained from BezmiÂlem Foundation University Faculty of Medicine, Experimental Animal Production Laboratory were used in the present study. Te rats were randomly assigned to four groups. Before the study, the rats were kept in wire cages for a week under circadian rhythm of 12-hours day and 12-hours night at an environmental temperature of 24-26°C and a moisture rate of 50-60%. Te feeding was discontinued 12 hours before the start of the study; Abstract Introduction: Ischemia is a condition in which the circulation fails to provide the oxygen and other metabolites required by the tissue, and to eliminate the waste products. Reperfusion is the recovery of blood fow and oxygen to a hypoxic tissue. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of faxseed (L. Usitatissimum) in a hyper cholesterolemic rat model of lower extremity ischemia-reperfusion injury. Material and method: 38 female Wistar rats weighing 200 to 250 grams were used in the study. The rats were assigned into 4 groups as follows: Group 1 (control, normal diet, n:8); Group 2 (40 mg/kg fed by body lignan complex, n:10), Group 3: (fed by 0.1% cholesterol containing diet, n:10), Group 4 (fed by 0.1% cholesterol containing diet+40 mg/kg body lignan complex, n:10). Ischemia was modeled by performing ligation of the left femoral artery using 6/0 prolene for two hours followed by two hours of perfusion and the blood fow was measured throughout the process in all groups by Doppler ultrasonography. Results: In Group 3, serum total cholesterol and triglyceride levels were higher compared to subjects in Group 1, Group 2 and Group 4 (p<0.05). The difference was insignifcant between groups according to oxidative markers (TAC, TOC) (p>0.05). Conclusion: The present study shows that faxseed reduces the ischemia-reperfusion injury that occurs in femoral artery endothelium and gastrocnemius muscle following femoral artery occlusion-reperfusion in rats. The main fndings in support of this conclusion include the signifcantly lower serum total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and triglyceride values in rats fed by faxseed compared to hyper-cholesterolemic rats that were given faxseed. In addition, assessment of the femoral artery endothelium and gastrocnemius muscle samples using the immunohistochemical method revealed signifcantly lower edema and neutrophil infltration in rats fed by faxseed.