Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. 160 patients with kidney failure given 2 grams flaxseed oil had 36% greater decrease in a marker of inflammation than the control group and had cholesterol benefits.

The latest statistics from the Center for Disease Control’s National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse state that 1 in 10 American adults (20 million people) have a form of chronic kidney disease, many of which will require either dialysis or a kidney transplants. Costs for caring for patients with severe kidney disease (called “end state renal disease”) average $70,000 per patient (1). A common feature among many patients undergoing dialysis or a kidney transplant is having increased levels of inflammatory proteins such as C-reactive protein, interleukin-1, and interleukin-6 (2, 3). Now a new study (4) suggests that flaxseed oil may help maintain healthy levels of inflammation in patients with kidney disease.

In the study, 160 patients aged 46 to 72 with kidney failure and undergoing dialysis for 3 months received either 2 grams of flaxseed oil (1 gram twice per day) or placebo (1 gram of mineral oil twice per day) for 4 months (120 days). By the end of 4 months, those in the flaxseed oil group saw their c-reactive protein levels decrease by 48% (8.1 to 4.2 mg/L, p < 0.001). While the placebo group’s levels  only decreased by 12% and did not reach statistical significance (4.2 to 3.7 mg/L, p 0.337), their finishing level was lower than the flaxseed group. The researchers did not give any explanation on why the starting c-reactive protein levels in the flaxseed group were so much higher than the placebo group levels.

In the flaxseed group, total cholesterol levels decreased by 7.6% (193.2 to 178.6 mg/dL, p = 0.004) with no statistical significant change in the placebo group (165.9 to 162.5 mg/dL, p = 0.588). LDL cholesterol decreased by 11% in the flaxseed group (121.0 to 107.6 mg/L, p = 0.001) with no statistically significant change in the placebo group (94.5 to 88.7 mg/dL, p = 0.243). Finally, HDL cholesterol levels increased by 8.1% in the flaxseed group (30.8 to 33.3 mg/L, p = 0.004) with no statistically significant change in the placebo group (34.4 to 35.0 mg/dL, p = 0.591).

Another important finding was how many patients considered “inflamed” before the study were not considered so after the study. Defining “inflamed” as having c-reactive protein levels >5.1 mg/L (5), 33.3% of the flaxseed patients changed from an inflamed to a non-inflamed status compared to 16.9% in the placebo group (P = .04).

For the researchers, “The results presented here support the hypothesis that flaxseed oil and perhaps other anti-inflammatory therapies may have beneficial effects on the c-reactive protein levels in chronic dialysis patients.”

Source: Lemos, Joana RN, et al. “Flaxseed oil supplementation decreases C-reactive protein levels in chronic hemodialysis patients.” Nutrition Research 32.12 (2012): 921-927.

© 2012 Elsevier Inc. Open access under the Elsevier OA license.

Posted January 28, 2013.

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY.  You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.PitchingDoc.com

References:

  1. National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse available on the CDC website.
  2. Pachaly MA, Nascimento MM, Suliman ME, et al. Interleukin-6 is a better predictor of mortality as compared to C-reactive protein, homocysteine, pentosidine and advanced oxidation protein products in hemodialysis patients. Blood Purif 2008;26(2):204–10.
  3. Raj DS, Carrero JJ, Shah VO. Soluble CD14 levels, interleukin 6, and mortality among prevalent hemodialysis patients. Am J Kidney Dis 2009;54:990–2.
  4. Lemos JR. . Nutr Res 2012 Dec;32(12):921-7. doi: 10.1016/j.nutres.2012.08.007. Epub 2012 Sep 26.
  5. Menon V, Greene T,Wang X, et al. C-reactive protein and albumin as predictors of all-causeand cardiovascular mortality in chronic kidney disease. Kidney Int 2005;68:766–72.