A randomized study to establish the effects of spirulina in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients

Abstract

Spirulina is a microscopic and filamentous cyanobacterium that contains essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidative components. The purpose of this study was to examine effects of spirulina intervention in Korean patients with type 2 diabetes. The subjects were 37 type 2 diabetic patients who visited a diabetic clinic in Seoul and randomly assigned into spirulina (8 g/day) or control group. During the intervention period of 12 weeks, subjects were asked to keep usual diet and prohibited to take any functional foods or dietary supplements. Spirulina supplementation for 12 weeks did not affect anthropometric parameters, however, lowered plasma triglycerides level significantly (p<0.05). Spirulina supplementation also resulted in a significant reduction in plasma malondialdehyde level (p<0.05) and an increase in plasma adiponectin level (p<0.1). The lipid lowering effect of spirulina supplementation was different according to serum lipid levels of the subjects before entering the intervention. The subjects with higher initial triglyceride level showed higher reduction in plasma triglyceride and blood pressure. The subjects with higher initial total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol level showed higher reduction in plasma concentrations of total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, IL-6, and blood pressure. It seems that spirulina supplementation is more effective in subjects with dyslipidemia. This study provides the evidence for beneficial effects of spirulina supplementation on blood lipid profiles, inflammatory variables, and antioxidant capacity in Korean patients with type 2 diabetes. The results suggest that spirulina is a promising agent as a functional food for diabetes management.

Study of the Toxicity of ?Spirulina Plus? in HIV1 Infected Patients in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

“…The enrichment of spirulina with zinc and selenium as well as the posology used, could possibly explain these differences. Similarly, the same undesirable effects noted with simple spirulina types such as the following: hypoglycaemia, reduction of triglycerides and total cholesterol [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34], hepato toxicity through increase in transaminases [11,12], increase in hemoglobin [3,7,31], were not observed in patients taking "Spiruline plus" only. This presumably would confirm the important role of oligo elements (zinc and selenium) when added to spirulina.…”

Efficacy of Spirulina (Tahlab) in Patients of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (Ziabetus Shakri) - A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Parikh et al affirmed that spirulina is rich source of fibre contents which may leads to reduced glucose absorption and possible action of peptides and polypeptides generated by digestion of spirulina protein are responsible for it [21]. Kumari et al [26], Anitha et al [30], Lee et al [31], Kaur et al. [32], and Layam et al [41], reported that Spirulina exhibit antihyperglycemic activity.…”

“…A number of independent preclinical and clinical studies support the antihyperglycaemic and antidyslipidaemic activity for spirulina [21,[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]. These observations led us to contemplate the study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of spirulina (tahlab) in the management of Type 2 Diabetes in human subjects.…”

The search for a promising cell factory system for production of edible vaccine

“…Spirulina as human health promoter Spirulina possesses great potentials for medical applications. It regulates blood lipid level, lowers plasma triglycerides, and blood pressure, 22 hinders neurological damages in aging animals and repairs or avoids stroke-caused damages. 23 Spirulina has further applications in curing arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, allergies, obesity, and zinc deficiency.…”

“…23 Spirulina has further applications in curing arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, allergies, obesity, and zinc deficiency. 22 They are capable of inhibiting carcinogenesis due to holding anti-oxidant properties in protecting tissues and also reducing toxicity in liver and kidney.…”