In this systematic review, we discuss the scientific evidence about the effect of dietary intake of seeds and sesame derivatives on lipid profile and blood pressure (BP) of hypertensive and dyslipidemic individuals. Clinical trials published in English, Portuguese or Spanish were searched on the following databases: Lilacs, PubMed, Isi Web of Knowledge, Cochrane Library, Scopus, Trip Data Base and Scielo. The bibliographic search period was started in September 2013 and ended in January 2014. The biases of risk analysis were carried out considering 6 of the 8 criteria of the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions Version 5.1. Of the 7 clinical trials included, five evaluating individuals with hypertension observed a significant reduction in systolic and/or diastolic blood pressure. The two articles that evaluated individuals with dyslipidemia showed improvement in lipid profile. The mechanisms of action are still being studied. Regarding the bias risk analysis, clinical trials included showed few descriptions of the methods applied. There are few studies about sesame ingestion, and it was observed high risk for bias in the selected studies. More standardized methods with attention to the design of studies are needed to improve the level of the evidence.
Keywords: Sesamum; cardiovascular disease; dyslipidemia; hypertension; risk factors; sesame oil.