Effect of Chlorella Ingestion on Oxidative Stress and Fatigue Symptoms in Healthy Men

Effects of Chlorich®EnergyBoost on Enhancing Physical Performance and Anti-Fatigue Properties in Mice

Chlorich®EnergyBoost, a water extract obtained from Chlorella sorokiniana, has been proposed to enhance physical performance and provide anti-fatigue effects. This study assessed the impact of Chlorich®EnergyBoost supplementation on physical performance and its anti-fatigue properties. Twenty-four mice were allocated into four groups: (1) the control group receiving only water,;(2) the 1X group (49.2 mg/kg/day); (3) the 2X group (98.4 g/kg/day); and (4) the 5X group (246 g/kg/day). All groups were orally administered the supplements for four consecutive weeks. The evaluation included grip strength, swimming endurance, an exhaustion test, and serum biochemistry analysis. Additionally, the study examined the bioactive peptides through matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and conducted bacterial reverse mutation and acute oral toxicity tests for safety assessment. The findings indicated that Chlorich®EnergyBoost supplementation led to a significant reduction in serum lactate levels by 14.08% to 22.54% and blood urea nitrogen levels by 12.23% to 16.76%, an increase in the lactate clearance rate by 0.28 to 0.35, an enhancement of muscle glycogen storage by 1.10 to 1.44-fold, and hepatic glycogen storage by 1.41 to 1.47-fold. These results demonstrated dose-dependent effects. MALDI-TOF analysis revealed the expression of dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase and superoxide dismutase. Both the bacterial reverse mutation and acute oral toxicity tests showed no adverse effects.

The Efficacy of Chlorella Supplementation on Multiple Indices of Cycling Performance

This study investigated the effects of chlorella supplementation on submaximal endurance, time trial performance, lactate threshold, and power indices during a repeated sprint performance test by fourteen male trained cyclists. Participants ingested 6 g/day of chlorella or placebo for 21-days in a double-blinded randomized counter-balanced cross-over design, with a fourteen-day washout period between trials. Each completed a 2-day testing period comprising a 1-hour submaximal endurance test at 55% external power output max and a 16.1 km time trial (Day-1), followed by a lactate threshold (Dmax) and repeated sprint performance tests (3 X 20 s sprints interspersed by 4-mins) (Day-2). Heart rate (b.min-1), RER, V̇O2 (ml·kg-1·min-1), lactate and glucose (mmol/L), time (secs), power output (W/kg), and hemoglobin (g/L) were compared across conditions. Following chlorella supplementation (chlorella vs. placebo for each measurement) average lactate and heart rate were significantly lower (p < 0.05) during submaximal endurance tests (1.68 ± 0.50 mmol/L vs. 1.91 ± 0.65 mmol/L & 138 ± 11b.min-1 vs. 144 ± 10b.min-1), average power and peak power (W/kg) were significantly higher during repeated sprint bouts (9.5 ± 0.7 W/kg vs. 9.0 ± 0.7 W/kg & 12.0 ± 1.2 W/kg vs. 11.4 ± 1.4 W/kg), hemoglobin significantly increased (149.1 ± 10.3 g/L) in comparison to placebo (143.4 ± 8.7 g/L) (p = 0.05). No differences existed between conditions for all oxygen consumption values, 16.1 km time trial measures and lactate threshold tests (p > 0.05). In conclusion, chlorella may pose as an additional supplement for cyclists to consider, particularly for those cyclists who want to improve their sprinting.

Inhibitory Effects of Parachlorella Beijerinckii Extracts on the Formation of Advanced Glycation End Products and Glycative Stress-Induced Inflammation in an In Vitro Skin Dermis-Like Model

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are formed via a nonenzymatic glycosylation reaction called glycation. The formation and accumulation of AGEs increases in skin with age, contributing to the appearance of facial wrinkles and loss of skin elasticity. Therefore, inhibition of AGEs may delay skin aging. The microalgae Parachlorella beijerinckii has been used as a health food supplement for many years and contains carotenoids and vitamins that have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. The aim of this study was to investigate whether Chlorella extract also has antiglycation activity. Antiglycation activity was measured using fluorescent AGEs, Nε-(carboxymethyl) lysine (CML), and Nε-(carboxymethyl) arginine (CMA) from glycated bovine serum albumin and type I collagen in vitro. A gel with a dermis-like structure consisting of collagen and a live fibroblast cell line was glycated with glyoxal. The content of fluorescent AGE, CML, and CMA, and the gel contraction activity were measured. In addition, to investigate the level of inflammation induced by the glycation of the collagen gel, the expression level of the receptor for AGEs and interleukin-8 were examined. Fat-solubleChlorella extract suppressed the formation of fluorescent AGEs, CML, and CMA in both models. These results indicated that Chlorella extract directly inhibited AGE formation. The collagen gel contracted over time during culturing, whereas contraction was inhibited in the glyoxal-treated collagen gel. Chlorella extract remarkably attenuated the glyoxal-induced gel contraction. Moreover, Chlorella extract substantially decreased the fluorescent AGEs, CML, and CMA in the collagen gels with glyoxal. Glyoxal exposure increased the expression levels of interleukin-8 and receptor for AGE proteins in collagen gels, while Chlorella extract inhibited this increase. This study showed that fat-solubleChlorella extract has a direct inhibitory effect on AGEs and decreases receptor expression for AGE-mediated inflammation by reducing AGEs. Chlorella may delay skin aging by inhibiting the formation and accumulation of AGEs.

Mechanism of Hyperbaric Oxygen Combined with Astaxanthin Mediating Keap1/Nrf2/HO-1 Pathway to Improve Exercise Fatigue in Mice

Objective

This work aimed to explore the application and optimization of the electrophysiological monitoring system to real-time monitor the exercise-induced fatigue (EIF) animals and investigate the intervention mechanism of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) combined with natural astaxanthin (NAX) on EIF.

Methods

First, a system was constructed for acquisition, processing, and feature extraction of electrocardiograph (ECG) signal and surface electromyography (EMG) signal for EIF monitoring. The mice were randomly divided into a control group (CG), EIF group (EG), HBO treatment (HBO) group, and HBO combined with NAX treatment (HBO + NAX) group. The effect of the constructed system on classification recognition of EIF was analyzed. The levels of serum antioxidative stress indicators of mice in each group were detected, including malondialdehyde (MDA), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH), glutathione-peroxidation (GSH-Px), and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC). In addition, the mRNA and protein levels of Keap1/Nrf2/HO-1 pathway related genes in liver tissue were detected.

Results

The results showed that the normalized least mean squares algorithm effectively removed the motion artifact interference of ECG signal and can clearly display the signal peak, and high-pass filtering and power frequency filtering effectively removed the motion and baseline drift interference of surface EMG signal. The recognition sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of the EIF recognition model based on the long- and short-term memory network were 90.0%, 93.3%, and 92.5%, respectively. Compared with the CG, the characteristics of ECG signal and surface EMG signal of the mice in the EIF group changed greatly (P < 0.05); the serum MDA level was increased obviously; the CAT, SOD, GSH, GSH-Px, and T-AOC levels were observably reduced (P < 0.05); the expressions of Keap1 and HO-1 in the liver were reduced remarkably, while the expression of Nrf2 was increased notably (P < 0.05). Compared with the EIF group, the characteristics of ECG signal and surface EMG signal of the mice in the HBO and HBO + NAX groups were obviously improved (P < 0.05); the serum MDA level was significantly reduced; the CAT, SOD, GSH, GSH-Px, and T-AOC levels were greatly increased (P < 0.05); the expressions of Keap1 and HO-1 in the liver were greatly increased, while the expression of Nrf2 was decreased sharply (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

Therefore, the feature extraction and classification system of ECG signal combined with surface EMG signal could realize real-time monitoring of EIF status. HBO intervention could improve the body's ability to resist oxidative stress through the Keap1/Nrf2/HO-1 pathway and then improve the EIF state. In addition, the improvement effect of HBO + NAX was more obvious.