The effects of spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) supplementation on anthropometric indices, blood pressure, sleep quality, mental health, fatigue status and quality of life in patients with ulcerative colitis: A randomised, double‐blinded, placebo‐controlled trial

Abstract

Background: An emerging body of evidence has highlighted the protective role of spirulina in human health. Thus, we conducted a randomised controlled trial to discern the effects of spirulina supplementation on anthropometric indices, blood pressure, sleep quality, mood, fatigue status and quality of life among ulcerative colitis patients.Methods: Eighty participants with ulcerative colitis were randomly allocated to receive, either, 1 g/day (two 500 mg capsules) spirulina (n = 40) or placebo (n = 40), in a clinical trial for eight weeks. Dietary intake, physical activity, sleep quality, mental health, fatigue status and quality of life were assessed for each participant at baseline and trial cessation. Anthropometric indices and blood pressure were also assessed.Results: Seventy-three participants completed the intervention. Our results revealed that spirulina supplementation significantly reduced sleep disturbances (P = .03), while no significant changes occurred in the sleep quality score or other sleep parameters, vs the placebo group (P > .05). Furthermore, a significant reduction in stress score (P = .04) and increase in quality of life (P = .03) was detected; but not anxiety, depression or fatigue scores (P > .05). Additionally, anthropometric indices and blood pressure did not significantly change (P > .05). Conclusion:An improved quality of life was observed among ulcerative colitis patients following spirulina supplementation, which could be attributed to improved sleep disturbance and stress status. Further clinical studies, with longer duration interventions and suitably powered sample sizes, are necessary to elucidate the veracity of our findings. How to cite this article: Moradi S, Zobeiri M, Feizi A, Clark CCT, Entezari MH. The effects of spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) supplementation on anthropometric indices, blood pressure, sleep quality, mental health, fatigue status and quality of life in patients with ulcerative colitis: a randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial. Int J Clin Pract.

Effect of Spirulina Supplementation on Systolic and Diastolic Blood Pressure: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

“…However, the consumption was associated with a mild reduction in DBP [18]. In contrast, Moradi et al claimed that Spirulina taken 1 g per day by ulcerative colitis patients did not influence blood pressure values (p > 0.05) [19].…”

“…In total, 5 randomized controlled trials with 230 subjects for SBP and 4 RTCs with 214 subjects for DBP were enrolled in meta-analysis [15][16][17][18][19]. PICOS criteria for inclusion and exclusion of studies are available in Table 2.…”

“…All patients were adults and they suffered from co-existing diseases, for instance, hypertension, diabetes mellitus type 2, chronic joint pain, and ulcerative colitis (Table 4). According to Jadad scores [21], 1 study [15] was categorized as a low-quality study (score < 3) and 4 studies [16][17][18][19] as high-quality studies (score ≥ 3).…”

“…However, the above analysis showed unacceptable heterogeneity (I 2 = 81%). Therefore, based on the sensitivity analysis, we found and eliminated the study [19] that caused high heterogeneity (Figure 7a). After re-analysis, which accounted for the exclusion of the above study, we noticed highly significant lowering of DBP in the Spirulina group (MD: −7.02 mmHg, CI: −8.86 to −5.18, I 2 = 11%) compared with the control group (Figure 7b).…”

“…A few studies indicated that Spirulina significantly changes (lowers) only the systolic blood pressure (SBP) [15,16] or only the diastolic blood pressure (DBP) [17]. Two studies reported that there were no statistically significant differences between the experimental and control group regarding systolic and diastolic blood pressure [18,19]. In this meta-analysis, we evaluated the effectiveness of Spirulina supplementation on systolic and diastolic blood pressure to elucidate the subject.…”