Multiple micronutrient supplementation using spirulina platensis and infant growth, morbidity, and motor development: Evidence from a randomized trial in Zambia

Abstract

In developing countries, micronutrient deficiency in infants is associated with growth faltering, morbidity, and delayed motor development. One of the potentially low-cost and sustainable solutions is to use locally producible food for the home fortification of complementary foods. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that locally producible spirulina platensis supplementation would achieve the following: 1) increase infant physical growth, 2) reduce morbidity, and 3) improve motor development. We randomly assigned 501 Zambian infants into the control group or the spirulina group. Children in the control group (n = 250) received a soya-maize-based porridge for 12 months; those in the spirulina group (n = 251) received the same food with the addition of spirulina. We assessed the change in infants’ anthropometric status, morbidity (probable pneumonia, cough, probable malaria, and fever), and motor development over 12 months. The baseline characteristics were not different between the two groups. The attrition rate (47/501) was low. The physical growth of infants in the two groups was similar at 12 months of intervention, as measured by height-for-age z-scores and weight-for-age z-scores. Infants in the spirulina group were 11 percentage points less likely to develop a cough (CI: -0.23, -0.00; P < 0.05) and were more likely to be able to walk alone at 15 months (0.96 ± 0.19) than infants in the control group (0.92 ± 0.28). Home-fortification of complementary foods using spirulina had positive effects on upper respiratory infection morbidity prevention and motor milestone acquisition among Zambian infants.

Protective Effect of Spirulina platensis Extract against Dextran-Sulfate-Sodium-Induced Ulcerative Colitis in Rats

“…Moreover, the protective effects achieved in the high-dose-HA-extract-treated animals were similar to those achieved by SSZ treatment. The protective effects demonstrated by Spirulina platensis can be attributed to its previously reported antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities [32,34,64,65], and possibly to its supplying the animals with trace nutrients required by the body for maintenance of redox homeostasis, nutrients which can be rendered deficient as a result of disease progression [21,22,34]. Importantly, Spirulina is a well-known rich source of antioxidant metabolites, including carotenoids such as β-carotene and zeaxanthin as major constituents [26,66,67].…”

“…Moreover, although the protection imparted by Spirulina platensis was compared to a widely-accepted clinically-used treatment in IBD, SSZ, one important limitation of the current study is the lack of direct evidence to show the role of carotenoids, and possibly other ingredients, in the protective effects displayed by the HA extracts. However, clinical and experimental evidence by others has highlighted the importance of carotenoids in the management of gastrointestinal inflammatory conditions, including UC [19,21,28,29,61,68].…”

“…The clinical use of cyanobacterium Spirulina platensis as a functional food and a nutritional supplement for human conditions is currently on the rise [19,20,21,22,23,24,25]. A recent systematic review highlighted both the safety and the ameliorative effects of Spirulina supplements on the components of metabolic syndrome in humans [20].…”

“…A recent systematic review highlighted both the safety and the ameliorative effects of Spirulina supplements on the components of metabolic syndrome in humans [20]. Interestingly, the consumption of Spirulina platensis supplements in infants during early life has been positively associated with better motor functional development and enhanced social skills [21,22]. In addition, a commercially available preparation based on Spirulina extract showed immunomodulatory effects in healthy volunteers [23].…”

Spirulina, The Boon of Nature

“…Spirulina enhances immunity by producing a huge amount of antibodies, interferon-gamma, and cytosine (Sathasivam et al, 2019;Krieg et al, 2012) .The polysaccharide fraction of spirulina platensis was shown to boost human macrophage immune cells in in-vitro research (Alam et al, 2014) . It can boost innate and acquired defense processes such as cytokines, allowing the body to help itself and capable of managing a number of illness such as viral infections, various cancers and autoimmune disease (Masuda and Chitundu, 2019) .spirulina has proven effective in the treatment of HIV infected patients in which calcium spirulina a sulfated polysaccharide(ca-sp), an isolated product of spirulina platensis, inhibits numerous viral replications and exhibits antiviral activity against HSV-1, in luenza virus, human cytomegalovirus(HVMV), mumps virus,measles virus and type-1 immunode iciency virus(HIV-1) (Ramakrishnan, 2013;Hetta et al, 2015;Abed et al, 2016). Spirulina produces biologically active proteins capable of stimulating the intestinal immune system to improve vaccine responsiveness and allergic rhinitis (Simon et al, 2018) .…”