Chlorella, a type of unicellular fresh water algae, has been a popular foodstuff in Japan and Taiwan. Chlorella has been shown to produce hypoglycemic effects in alloxan-induced diabetic animals. However, there are no other reports of the effects of this substance in other diabetic animal models. Here we have used streptozocin (STZ)-induced diabetic mice to study the thypoglycemic effects of Ch...

As significant differences in cellular physiology, metabolic potential and genetics occur among strains with morphological similarity, the screening of appropriate microalgae species for effective CO2 fixation and biodiesel production is extremely critical. In this study, ten strains of Chlorella were cultivated in municipal wastewater influent (MWI) and their tolerance for MWI, CO2 fixation ef...

This study was performed to investigate effects of Chlorella vulgaris on lipid metabolism in rats fed high fat diet. Sixty 6-week-old male Wistar rats were divided into two groups; normal diet group and high fat diet group, then the rats in each group were further divided into three subgroups and fed 0%, 5% and 10% (w/w) chlorella-containing diets, respectively, and raised for 9 weeks. Serum as...

The physiological and biochemical responses of two green algae Ankistrodesmus falcatus and Chlorella vulgaris to copper sulphate were investigated. In this experiment both Ankistrodesmus and Chlorella cultures were treated with copper sulphate concentrations ranging from 0. 5 to 250 μM. The influence of copper on growth and metabolism was determined. Ankistrodesmus grown at 250 μM copper sulpha...

It has been found that the chemical composition of Chlorella pyrenoidosa varies over a wide range, depending on the environmental conditions selected for its growth. A description of the influence of different environmental factors on the composition of Chlorella has been given, and a method of calculating the approximate cell composition in terms of carbohydrate, protein, and lipide from the e...

A bacteria-free monoxenic culture of Paramecium bursaria has been established. Chlorogonium elongatum was used as the sole food source and large numbers of easily maintained P. bursaria were obtained. Additional enhancement of the growth of P. bursaria was achieved by supplementing the culture medium with soybean lecithin. The ability of monoxenically cultured P. bursaria to re-establish its sy...

BACKGROUND Chlorella, a unicellular green alga that grows in fresh water, contains high levels of proteins, vitamins, minerals, and dietary fibers. Some studies have reported favorable immune function-related effects on biological secretions such as blood and breast milk in humans who have ingested a chlorella-derived multicomponent supplement. However, the effects of chlorella-derived suppleme...

The ciliate Paramecium bursaria living in mutualistic relationship with the unicellular green alga Chlorella is known to be easily infected by various potential symbionts/parasites such as bacteria, yeasts and other algae. Permanent symbiosis, however, seems to be restricted to Chlorella taxa. To test the specificity of this association, we designed infection experiments with two aposymbiotic P...

In order to clarify the physiological effects of Chlorella intake on subjects with high-risk factors for lifestyle-related diseases, we conducted Chlorella ingestion tests on 17 subjects with high-risk factors for lifestyle-related diseases and 17 healthy subjects over a 16-week period, including a 4-week post-observation period. We conducted blood biochemical tests and analyzed gene expression...

The aim of this study was to examine the hypoglycemic effect of chlorella in 6 week-old type 2 diabetic Goto-Kakizaki (GK, n=30) rats and 6 week-old normal Wistar (n=30) rats. Animals were randomly assigned to 3 groups respectively, and were fed three different experimental diets containing 0%, 3% or 5% (w/w) chlorella for 8 weeks. In diabetic GK rats, the insulinogenic-indices were not signifi...