Omeprazole and Spirulina Platensis Ameliorate Steatohepatitis in Experimental Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Effects of Spirulina supplementation in patients with ulcerative colitis: a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial

AIM

We conducted a randomized placebo-controlled trial to assess the efficacy of Spirulina (SP) supplementation on disease activity, health-related quality of life, antioxidant status, and serum pentraxin 3 (PTX-3) levels in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC).

METHODS

Eighty patients with UC were randomly assigned to consume either 1 g/day (two 500 mg capsules/day) of SP (n = 40) or control (n = 40) for 8 weeks. Dietary intakes, physical activity, disease activity, health-related quality of life, antioxidant status, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and serum PTX-3 levels were assessed and compared between groups at baseline and post-intervention.

RESULTS

Seventy-three patients (91.3%) completed the trial. We observed increases in serum total antioxidant capacity levels in the SP supplementation group compared to the control group after 8 weeks of intervention (p ≤ 0.001). A within-group comparison indicated a trend towards a higher health-related quality of life score after 8 weeks of taking two different supplements, SP (p < 0.001) and PL (p = 0.012), respectively. However, there were no significant changes in participant's disease activity score in response to SP administration (p > 0.05). Similarly, changes in ESR and PTX-3 levels were comparable between groups post-intervention (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

SP improved antioxidant capacity status and health-related quality of life in patients with UC. Our findings suggest that SP supplementation may be effective as an adjuvant treatment for managing patients with UC. Larger trials with longer interventions periods are required to confirm our findings.

Arthrospira platensis (Spirulina) fortified functional foods ameliorate iron and protein malnutrition by improving growth and modulating oxidative stress and gut microbiota in rats

The present study was aimed at developing Arthrospira platensis (Spirulina) fortified traditional foods of the Indian subcontinent, namely sattu (multigrain beverage mix) and chikki (peanut bar) and evaluating their ability to promote recovery from protein and iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) using albino Wistar rats. Addition of Spirulina (at 4% w/w Spirulina inclusion levels) enriched the protein content by 20.33% in sattu and 15.65% in chikki while the iron content was enhanced by 45% in sattu and 29.6% in chikki. In addition, the total carotenoid and polyphenol content and antioxidant capacity of the food products improved after Spirulina incorporation. Supplementation of 100 g of Spirulina fortified food products meets more than 50% of recommended dietary allowances (RDA) of protein, dietary fiber, iron and zinc for the age group 3 to 10 years of children. Spirulina contributed between 11% and 22% of RDA for protein and iron, respectively; however it contributed very negligibly to RDA of dietary fibre with respect to the nutrient requirements for the target age group. Supplementation of Spirulina fortified foods individually promoted bodyweight gain in malnourished rats and restored haemoglobin, serum protein, albumin, serum iron, and hepcidin levels and reduced the iron binding capacity indicating recovery from IDA. Spirulina supplementation ameliorated malnutrition induced oxidative stress in the liver, spleen and kidneys by reducing the lipid peroxidation and enhancing superoxide dismutase and glutathione activities. Histopathological analysis revealed that supplementation of Spirulina fortified foods reversed pathological changes such as fatty changes in the liver cells, thinning of cardiac muscle fibers and degeneration of intestinal villi. Fe-protein deficiency significantly altered the gut microflora by reducing the abundance of beneficial microbes. However, supplementation of Spirulina fortified foods improved the levels of beneficial gut microbes such as Lactobacillus reuteri and Akkermansia muciniphila while reducing the abundance of Helicobacteraceae, Enterobacteria and Clostridia. In summary, supplementation of Spirulina fortified foods promoted recovery from protein and iron deficiency indicating the bioavailability of nutrients (iron and protein) from Spirulina at par with casein and ferrous ascorbate.

A High-Fat Diet Induces Lower Systemic Inflammation than a High-Carbohydrate Diet in Mice

Background: We previously established that male Swiss mice (Mus musculus) receiving a high-fat diet (HFD) during 8 weeks exhibit similar caloric ingestion and body weight (grams) compared with mice fed a high-carbohydrate diet (HCD). HFD mice exhibit a lower inflammatory state than an HCD in the liver, skeletal muscle, and brain. In addition, we demonstrated that HFD and HCD modulated fatty acids (FA) composition in these tissues. In this study, our objective was to compare HFD mice and HCD mice in terms of systemic inflammation. Methods: Saturated FA (SFA), monounsaturated FA, omega-6 polyunsaturated FA (n-6 PUFA), and n-3 PUFA were evaluated at the time points 0, 1, 7, 14, 28, and 56 days after starting the administration of the diets. We investigated n-6 PUFA:n-3 PUFA, SFA:n-3 PUFA, palmitic acid:α-linolenic acid (ALA), and myristic acid:docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) ratios as potential serum biomarkers of systemic inflammation. We also measured the serum levels of basic fibroblast growth factor, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), inducible protein 10 (IP-10), interferon gamma (IFN-γ), interleukin (IL)-1α, IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-13, IL-17, macrophage inflammatory protein-1α (MIP-1-α), monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP-1), monokine induced by IFN-γ (MIG), and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α). Results: The HFD group had lower (P < 0.05) n-6 PUFA:n-3 PUFA, palmitic acid:ALA, myristic acid:DHA ratios, and lower plasma levels of proinflammatory cytokines (IFN-γ, MIG, GM-CSF, and IL-6). Conclusion: The HFD mice showed lower systemic inflammation compared with a caloric ingestion-body weight-matched control HCD mice.