Reifen R, Blank M, Afek A, Kopilowiz Y, Sklan D, Gershwin M E, German B, Yoshida S, Shoenfeld Y
School of Nutritional Sciences, The Faculty of Agriculture, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.
Lupus. 1998;7(3):192-7. doi: 10.1191/096120398678919985.
To examine the effect of diets with different polyunsaturated fatty acid contents, including linseed oil which contains 70% omega-3 fatty acids, on autoantibody production in idiotype induced mouse model of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
Five different fats were fed to mice with induced SLE and antibody titers to anti-DNA and anti-cardiolipin were determined and histological examination of kidneys were carried out.
SLE mice fed linseed oil showed lower titers of antibodies to DNA and to cardiolipin and less severe kidney damage than mice fed other diets, including fish oil.
Use of linseed oil may attenuate the severity of SLE and this diet may be recommended for other auto-immune diseases as well.
