Flaxseed supplementation in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a pilot randomized, open labeled, controlled study

摘要

A two-arm randomized open labeled controlled clinical trial was conducted on 50 patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Participants were assigned to take either a lifestyle modification (LM), or LM+30g/day brown milled flaxseed for 12 weeks. At the end of the study, body weight, liver enzymes, insulin resistance and hepatic fibrosis and steatosis decreased significantly in both groups (p<0.05); however, this reduction was significantly greater in those who took flaxseed supplementation (p<0.05). The significant mean differences were reached in hepatic markers between flaxseed and control group, respectively: ALT [-11.12 compared with -3.7 U/L; P<0.001], AST [-8.29 compared with -4 U/L; p<0.001], GGT [-15.7 compared with -2.62 U/L; p<0.001], fibrosis score [-1.26 compared with -0.77 kPa; p=0.013] and steatosis score [-47 compared with -15.45 dB/m; p=0.022]. In conclusion, flaxseed supplementation plus lifestyle modification is more effective than lifestyle modification alone for NAFLD management.