Chlorella improves inflammatory profiles and quality of life of prediabetes and diabetes patients

Abstract

The long-term effects of Chlorella doses on the inflammatory status and quality of life (QoL) of individuals with type-2 diabetes (T2D), and prediabetes (pre-T2D), and of nondiabetic controls were investigated. Chlorella was administered for 12 months; 1.6 g/day for the first six months and 3 g/day for the following six months. The inflammatory profile was studied by quantification of cytokines, adipokines and incretins. QoL was evaluated using the Short Form-36 health survey questionnaire (SF-36). Evaluations were performed at baseline, 6 (T6) and 12 (T12) months after initiating Chlorella intake. At baseline, QoL was more deeply impacted in T2D, a similar proinflammatory profile was observed in T2D and pre-T2D. In both, at T6 and T12, Chlorella modulated the altered levels of adipocytokines and incretins towards healthy values, and significantly improved QoL. Moderate correlations between the modulation by the alga and enhancement in QoL were observed only in the T2D group. In the nondiabetic control group, Chlorella improved QoL vitality and mental health scores. No differences were found between the two doses. Our results illustrate Chlorella adaptogen activity on inflammatory pathways and suggest its promising use as a complementary alternative in treating diseases related to insulin resistance in a wide range of chronic low-grade systemic inflammation-related diseases. Moreover, Chlorella increased QoL in all groups, the ultimate goal of all healthy interventions. Altogether, our findings suggest that one core mechanism involved in the homeostatic response produced by Chlorella is related to its rich content of carotenoids, operating mainly through inhibition of the NF-κB signalling pathway.

Chlorella modulation of gut microbiota dysbiosis in patients with type-2 diabetes

“…Therefore, it seems that the ability of Chlorella to increase the abundance of putatively good bacteria and reduce the gram-negative bacterial content of the digestive tract could be viewed as a positive effect of the alga. This corroborates our previous findings of the antiinflammatory effects of the alga in patients with pre-diabetes and T2D (Martins et al, 2023).…”

“…In this context, in a recent 12-month study in individuals with T2D and pre-diabetes, we demonstrated the ability of Chlorella to restore near-normal values of altered cytokine, adipokine, and incretin levels and significantly improve quality of life. These findings reveal the adaptogen activity of the alga on inflammatory pathways and highlight its promising use as a complementary alternative in the treatment of diseases related to insulin resistance (Martins et al, 2023).…”

“…Another important feature of Akkermansia muciniphila is the induction of anti-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-10, thus maintaining intestinal homeostasis (Scheithauer et al, 2020) and contributing to the improvement of glucose metabolism. In this context, in our 12-month study of the effects of Chlorella in patients with T2D, the alga increased the levels of both antiinflammatory proteins, adiponectin and IL-10 (Martins et al, 2023). This finding is relevant because reduced expression of these proteins is related to increased insulin resistance (Calle and Fernandez, 2012).…”

“…These findings corroborate previous studies showing that nondigestible fermentable dietary fibres have an antidiabetic effect that requires a functional GLP-1 receptor, thus emphasising the therapeutic potential of enhancing the endogenous secretion of this hormone for T2D treatment (Cani et al, 2006). In this context, our recent 12-month study on the effects of Chlorella in patients with diabetes and pre-diabetes has shown the ability of the alga to reduce inflammation, increase GPL-1 release, and con-sequently decrease the levels of glucagon (Martins et al, 2023), which is a counter-regulatory hormone that neutralises insulin actions (Gaisano et al, 2012;Habegger et al, 2010). These results are in agreement with experimental studies showing that diabetic animals fed a Chlorella-supplemented diet showed reduced fasting glucagon levels similar to those of exendin-4, a GLP-1 receptor agonist resistant to dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (Jeong et al, 2009).…”

“…Moreover, in a recent 12-month clinical study, we demonstrated that Chlorella ameliorates the inflammatory status and improves the quality of life of individuals with T2D and impaired glucose tolerance by restoring, to nearnormal values, the altered levels of proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines, adipokines, and incretins (Martins et al, 2023). These findings corroborate previous studies showing the ability of the alga to suppress the expression of incretins (resistin) and related genes in the peripheral blood cells of patients with impaired glucose tolerance (Itakura et al, 2015).…”