Microalgae in Terms of Biomedical Technology: Probiotics, Prebiotics, and Metabiotics

Abstract

Green, red, brown, and diatomic algae, as well as cyanobacteria, have been in the focus of attention of scientists and technologists for over 5 decades. This is due to their importance as efficient and economical producers of food additives, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, biofertilizers, biofuels, and wastewater bioremediation agents. Recently, the role of microalgae has increasingly been considered in terms of their probiotic function, i.e., of their ability to normalize the functioning of the microbiota of humans and agricultural animals and to produce biologically active substances, including hormones, neurotransmitters, and immunostimulators. A separate brief subsection of the review deals with the potential functions of microalgae with respect to the brain and psyche, i.e., as psychobiotics. Moreover, algal polysaccharides and some other compounds can be broken down to short fragments that will stimulate the development of useful intestinal microorganisms, i.e., function as efficient prebiotics. Finally, many components of microalgal cells and chemical agents produced by them can exert important health-promoting effects per se, which indicates that they are as potentially valuable metabiotics (the term preferred by late Prof. B.A. Shenderov), which are alternatively denoted as postbiotics in the literature.

Bifidobacterium longum and Chlorella sorokiniana Improve the IFN Type I-Mediated Antiviral Response in Rotavirus-Infected Cells

“…In addition to the anti-rotavirus activity shown in our studies, Chlorella supplementation was associated with a protective effect against chronic hepatitis C virus, in a clinical trial model, and was related to a reduced viral load [ 46 ]. Some microalgal cell components and chemical agents may exert health-promoting effects [ 47 ]. Although numerous studies regarding the antiviral effect of probiotics and the interaction of probiotics have been reported, the specific immune mechanism remained unknown [ 48 ].…”

Impact of neurotransmitters on microalgae: conceptual and practical implications

“…В настоящей работе мы рассматриваем воздействие нейротрансмиттеров на важные компоненты водных экосистем -микроводоросли. Микроводоросли являются микроскопическими одноклеточными, колониальными или нитевидными представителями водорослей [8,9] как «фи-логенетически разнообразного ансамбля организмов в диапазоне от одноклеточного планктона до гигантских морских зарослей» ( [10], с. 35).…”