Interest in the nutritional value and pharmacological activities of blue-green algae has gradually increased. Spirulina extracts show protective effects against apoptosis and inflammatory damage in various cell types. Here, we investigated the protective effects of extracts from Spirulina maxima in a cytokine-mediated type 1 diabetes model in vitro and in streptozotocin-induced diabetic Wistar ...

An analytical procedure was proposed to estimate bioaccessibility of copper and zinc in Spirulina Pacifica tablets with respect to that of copper and zinc in gluconate complexes. Spirulina is the common name for diet supplements produced primarily from two species of cyanobacteria, namely Arthrospira platensis and Arthrospira maxima. Spirulina tablets are an excellent source of proteins, vitami...

Spirulina, with its high concentration of functional nutrients, is emerging as an important therapeutic food. This study aimed to evaluate the hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic role of Spirulina. Twenty-five subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus were randomly assigned to receive Spirulina (study group) or to form the control group. At baseline, the control and study groups were matched for variou...

BACKGROUND Currently, natural products have built a well-recognized role in the management of many degenerative diseases, mainly rheumatoid arthritis. Recent studies suggest that Spirulina, a unicellular blue-green alga, may have a variety of health benefits and curative properties and is also competent of acting as an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and recently anti-angiogenic agent. In the pr...

Lead is a toxic metal that induces a wide range of behavioral, biochemical and physiological effects in humans. Oxidative damage has been proposed as a possible mechanism involved in lead toxicity. The current study was carried out to evaluate the antioxidant activities of Spirulina supplement against lead acetate -induced hepatic injury in rats. Five groups of rats were used in this study, Con...

Growth of Spirulina platensis LN1 was observed using eight different media consisting of different combinations of Lonar lake water, N, P and K and Zarrouk medium composition under different incubation periods. Medium II was suitable on 9th day of incubation and medium III was suitable on 15th day of incubation for its growth whereas, 12th day of incubation was shown to be suitable for its grow...

Microstructures in nature are ultrafine and ordered in biological roles, which have attracted material scientists. Spirulina forms three-dimensional helical microstructure, one of remarkable features in nature beyond our current processing technology such as lithography in terms of mass-productivity and structural multiplicity. Spirulina varies its diameter, helical pitch, and/or length against...

Bread is one of the most popular bakery products, generally made from refined wheat flour which is limiting in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and dietary fibre. Therefore, in the present study, wheat flour was supplemented with Spirulina powder at 2, 4, 6 and 8% levels to improve its nutritional quality. Developed enriched breads were found organoleptically acceptable by the panelists up to 6...

Cadmium (Cd) is an environmental and industrial cumulative pollutant that most affects many organs specially the liver. The protective effect of Spirulina, filamentous blue green algae, on Cd – induced oxidative stress and hepatotoxicity was evaluated in male rats. Oral administration of water extract of Spirulina for seven days followed by an acute toxic dose of Cd (3.5 mg kg b.wt. ), reduced ...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of Spirulina supplementation, sire breed and sex on the wool characteristics of purebred and crossbred Merino weaned lambs under a single pasture-based management system. Lambs sired by Merino, White Suffolk, Dorset, Black Suffolk breeds were randomly allocated into 3 treatments – the control group grazing without Spirulina (0 mL), low (100...