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This study was designed to investigate whether chlorella supplementation may ameliorate oxidative stress and nuclear factor kappa B (NFkappaB) activation in peritoneal macrophages and liver of C57BL/6 mice fed on an atherogenic diet. The animals were maintained on an atherogenic diet (control), or an atherogenic diet supplemented with 3% (w/w) chlorella or 5% (w/w) chlorella for 12 wks. The plasma and hepatic lipid levels were not affected by chlorella supplementation. Hepatic thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances and superoxide anion production in peritoneal macrophages were significantly lower in the 5% chlorella group (p<0.05), but the glutathione level was not altered by chlorella supplementation. The hepatic antioxidative enzyme activities of Cu, Zn-superoxide dismutase and catalase were higher in the mice fed on the 5% chlorella diet (p<0.05). The plasma aspartate aminotransferase activity was lower in the mice fed on the chlorella-containing diets (p<0.05), whereas the alanine aminotransferase activity was not affected by chlorella supplementation. The NFkappaB nuclear binding activities of peritoneal macrophages and liver were significantly lower in the 5% chlorella groups (p<0.05). These results suggest that chlorella supplementation may attenuate oxidative stress by reducing reactive oxygen production and increasing antioxidative processes, thus suppressing inflammatory mediator activation in peritoneal macrophages and liver.

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