Original articleBiomedicalProtective Effect of Arthrospira maxima on Fatty Acid Composition in Fatty Liver
Introduction
Arthrospira maxima (formerly known as Spirulina) is an edible cyanobacterium that belongs to the Oscillatoriaceae family and grows commonly in alkaline waters (1). Toxicological and nutritional studies have demonstrated the adequacy of its use as a human food complement 2, 3, 4.
Several reports have shown that A. maxima has immunomodulator, antioxidant, antiviral and hypolipidemic effects in vivo 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Other reported effects involve a reduction in vascular tone of aortic rings from rats fed A. maxima 9, 10, 11.
Furthermore, previous studies from our laboratory showed that in rats A. maxima prevented the development of fatty liver induced by fructose-rich purified diet (12) or by an intraperitoneal (i.p.) dose (1 mL/kg) of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) (13). In addition, the effects of A. maxima include an increase of HDL-cholesterol and a decrease of serum triacylglycerol (TAG) levels, as well as a reduction in hepatic thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARs) concentration (13). It is, however, unknown if these effects of A. maxima induce changes in liver fatty acid content. The aim of the present work was to evaluate, in a model of fatty liver, the effects of dietary A. maxima on liver lipid composition.
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Reagents
All reagents and chemicals used were of analytical grade, except corn oil and corn starch, which were commercial products for culinary use. Glucose and organic solvents were from Merck (Mexico). The other dietary components were from Sigma (St. Louis, MO).
The spray-dried powder of A. maxima employed in the experimental diet was a generous gift from Spirulina Mexicana, S.A. de C.V. (Mexico). A sample of A. maxima was analyzed by proximal analysis methods of the Association of Official Analytical
Composition of A. maxima
Results obtained from the composition analyses are shown in Table 2. Total lipids of A. maxima showed a high value (16.1%) when they were extracted in chloroform/methanol mixture, but a low content of neutral lipids was observed using diethyl ether (2.3%).
A. maxima has a low content of total dietary fiber (9%), whereas soluble and insoluble dietary fibers were 1 and 8%, respectively.
A. maxima Effects during Liver Injury
Increased serum levels of AST have been widely used as an indicator of liver damage. Preliminary results
Discussion
Composition analysis of A. maxima showed similar values for protein, ash, lipids, and moisture, as previously reported (1).
Analysis of total dietary fiber (TDF) of A. maxima showed similar or lower values than products like oat, date and pear, which contain, respectively, 7.46, 9.5 and 29.5% TDF of dry base 18, 19, 20. All of these products contain both soluble dietary fiber (SDF) and insoluble dietary fiber (IDF). In comparison with those products, A. maxima could be considered as a food with
Acknowledgments
This work was supported in part by grant IN-211102 from PAPIIT, Mexico.
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