Dietary flax oil during pregnancy and lactation retards disease progression in rat offspring with inherited kidney disease.

Dietary flax oil (FO) retards disease progression in growing or adult animal models of kidney disease. To determine whether dietary flax oil during the perinatal period would alter renal disease progression in offspring, Han-SPRD-cy rats with inherited cystic kidney disease were given diets with either 7% FO or corn oil (CO), throughout pregnancy and lactation. At 3 wk of age, offspring were then given either the same or the alternate diet for 7 wk. Rats given FO during the maternal period had 15% less renal cyst growth compared with rats given FO only in the postweaning period. Dietary FO, compared with CO, in the maternal period also resulted in 12% lower cell proliferation and 15% less oxidant injury in diseased kidneys of offspring. Including FO in both the maternal and postweaning period resulted in 29-34% less renal interstitial fibrosis and 22-23% lower glomerular hypertrophy. Along with improved histology, these rats exhibited 13% less proteinuria and 30% lower creatinine clearance when dietary FO was given in the maternal period. The potential for dietary FO during pregnancy and lactation to positively modulate adult renal disease has significant implications for the 1 in 1000 individuals with congenital cystic kidney disease.