Chlorella vulgaris treatment ameliorates the suppressive effects of single and repeated stressors on hematopoiesis

Abstract

The reports regarding the mutual influence between the central nervous system and the immune system constitute a vast and somewhat controversial body of literature. Stress is known to disturb homeostasis, impairing immunological functions. In this study, we investigated the hematopoietic response of Chlorella vulgaris (CV)-treated mice exposed to single (SST) and repeated stress (RST). We observed a reduction in the numbers of hematopoietic progenitors (HP) in the bone marrow and long-term bone marrow cultures (LTBMC) using flow cytometry and a coinciding decrease in the number of granulocyte-macrophage colonies (CFU-GM) after treatment with both stressors, but SST caused a more profound suppression. We observed a proportional increase in the colony-stimulating activity (CSA) of the serum of animals subjected to SST or RST. In the bone marrow, SST and RST induced a decrease in both mature myeloid and lymphoid populations but did not affect pluripotent hematopoietic progenitors (Lin(-)Sca-1(+)c-kit(+), LSK), and again, a more profound suppression was observed after SST. We further quantified the levels of interleukin-1α (IL-1α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) and the number of myeloid cells in LTBMC. Both SST and RST reduced the levels of these cytokines to similar degrees. The myeloid population was also reduced in LTBMC, and SST induced a more intense suppression. Importantly, CV treatment prevented the changes produced by SST and RST in all of the parameters evaluated. Together, our results suggest that CV treatment is an effective tool for the prophylaxis of myelosuppression caused by single or repeated stressors.

Morphology, composition, production, processing and applications of Chlorella vulgaris: A review

“…Nowadays, Japan is the world leader in consuming Chlorella and uses it for medical treatment [20,21] because it showed to have immune-modulating and anti-cancer properties [22][23][24][25][26]. After feeding it to rats, mice and rabbits in the form of powder, it showed protection properties against haema topoiesis [27] age-related diseases like cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and cataract; it lowers the risk of atherosclerosis and stimulates collagen synthesis for skin [28,29]. Furthermore, C. vulgaris is also capable of accumulating important amounts of lipids, especially after nitrogen starvation with a fatty acid profile suitable for biodiesel production [30,31 ].…”

Extramedular Hematopoiesis in the Spleen of Obese Mice Modulation by the Alga Chlorella

“…Our previous studies demonstrate a significant recovery in the reduced number of myeloid progenitor cells (CFU-GM) in the bone marrow of immunosuppressed host, in consequence of biologically active cytokine release, which was observed in several experimental models of psychogenical and physical stress [7,11,26,[28][29][30][32][33][34][35][36]. These results demonstrated that Chlorella up-regulates the production of colony-stimulating factors in the same manner as for CFU-GM, leading to appropriate production Extramedular Hematopoiesis in the Spleen of Obese Mice Modulation by the Alga Chlorella and efficient mobilization of early immune cells, which are crucial to the performance of the surveillance as well as the effector functions of the immune system.…”

Potential of Chlorella as a Dietary Supplement to Promote Human Health

“…Chlorella supplementation reportedly stimulates the pool of hematopoietic stem cells and activates leukocytes [172]. To further understand the influence of Chlorella (C. vulagaris) supplementation on hematopoiesis, hematopoietic cell populations in the bone marrow of mice subjected to a single or repeated stressor were measured [173]. Reduced numbers of hematopoietic progenitors in the bone marrow were observed after treatment with either stressor.…”