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Thromb Haemost 2015; 113(01): 177-184
DOI: 10.1160/TH14-03-0200
Stroke, Systemic or Venous Thromboembolism
Schattauer GmbH

Dietary omega-3 alpha-linolenic acid does not prevent venous thrombosis in mice

Martin F. Reiner   *
1   Laboratory for Platelet Research, Center for Molecular Cardiology, University of Zurich, Schlieren, Switzerland
2   Department of Internal Medicine, Cantonal Hospital of Baden, Switzerland
,
Kimberly Martinod   *
3   Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
,
Simona Stivala
1   Laboratory for Platelet Research, Center for Molecular Cardiology, University of Zurich, Schlieren, Switzerland
2   Department of Internal Medicine, Cantonal Hospital of Baden, Switzerland
,
Gianluigi Savarese
1   Laboratory for Platelet Research, Center for Molecular Cardiology, University of Zurich, Schlieren, Switzerland
,
Giovanni G. Camici
1   Laboratory for Platelet Research, Center for Molecular Cardiology, University of Zurich, Schlieren, Switzerland
,
Thomas F. Lüscher
1   Laboratory for Platelet Research, Center for Molecular Cardiology, University of Zurich, Schlieren, Switzerland
5   Department of Cardiology, University Heart Center, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland
,
Denisa D. Wagner
3   Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
4   Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
,
Jürg H. Beer
1   Laboratory for Platelet Research, Center for Molecular Cardiology, University of Zurich, Schlieren, Switzerland
2   Department of Internal Medicine, Cantonal Hospital of Baden, Switzerland
› Author Affiliations Financial support: This study has been supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (310030_144152/1).
Further Information

Publication History

Received: 04 March 2014

Accepted after major revision: 13 August 2014

Publication Date:
27 November 2017 (online)

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Summary

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a leading cause of cardiovascular death. Omega-3 fatty acids (n-3 FA) exhibit protective effects against cardiovascular disease. Others and our group have reported that the plant-derived n-3 FA alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) displays antiinflammatory, anticoagulant and antiplatelet effects, thereby reducing atherosclerosis and arterial thrombosis in mice fed a high ALA diet. Since procoagulant factors such as tissue factor and fibrin as well as platelets and leukocytes are crucially involved in the development of VTE, we investigated possible protective effects of dietary ALA on venous thrombus formation in a mouse model of stenosis- and furthermore, in a mouse model of endothelial injury-induced venous thrombosis. Four week old C57BL/6 mice underwent four weeks of high (7.3g%) or low ALA (0.03g%) treatment before being exposed to inferior vena cava (IVC) stenosis for 48 hours or laser injury of the endothelium of the internal jugular vein (IJV). Thrombus generation frequency, thrombus size and composition (IVC stenosis group) and time to thrombus formation (endothelial injury group) were assessed. In addition, plasma glycocalicin, a marker of platelet activation, platelet P-selectin and activated integrin expression as well as plasma thrombin generation was determined, but did not reveal any significant differences between he groups. Despite its protective properties against arterial thrombus formation, dietary ALA did not protect against venous thrombosis neither in the IVC stenosis nor the endothelial injury model, further indicating that the biological processes involved in arterial and venous thrombosis are different.

Keywords

Alpha-linolenic acid - cardiovascular disease - eep vein thrombosis - omega-3 fatty acids - venous thromboembolism

* Equal contribution by these authors.


 

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