Original article
Biomedical
Protective Effect of Arthrospira maxima on Fatty Acid Composition in Fatty Liver

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arcmed.2005.08.005Get rights and content

Background

Arthrospira maxima has been widely used for nutritional purposes. Additionally, A. maxima has shown immunomodulator, antiviral, antioxidant, vasomotor and hypolipidemic effects in laboratory and animal studies. A. maxima prevents fatty liver induced by either carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) or fructose-rich diet; however, the liver lipid composition in these models is not clearly known yet. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of A. maxima on the liver lipid profile in CCl4-induced steatohepatitis.

Methods

A single sublethal, intraperitoneal dose of CCl4 was administered to male Wistar rats fed a diet with or without 5% A. maxima. Liver lipids: total lipids, triacylglycerols, total cholesterol, free fatty acids, and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances were assessed 24 and 48 h after injury with CCl4. Additionally, triacylglycerols, total cholesterol and aspartate aminotransferase were evaluated in blood.

Results

Forty eight hours after CCl4 treatment, rats fed a diet without A. maxima had serum aspartate aminotransferase and liver triacylglycerols values that were, respectively, 2.2 and 1.4 times higher than those of animals receiving 5% A. maxima in their diet. The same pattern was observed for liver free fatty acids and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances. The groups fed a diet with A. maxima and treated with CCl4 showed a higher saturated fatty acid liver content than the groups without A. maxima in their diet. The percentage of unsaturated fatty acids increased 48 h after CCl4 treatment, but its value was 0.5 times lower in the group receiving A. maxima than in the group fed without A. maxima. In the liver, all animals receiving A. maxima showed a trend towards a lower percentage of unsaturated fatty acids, despite the mentioned increase 48 h after CCl4 treatment.

Conclusions

The results suggest that, in the fatty liver induced by CCl4, the hepatoprotective effect of A. maxima involves (a) an antioxidant mechanism and (b) a lower unsaturation of the liver fatty acids. The preventive effect of A. maxima on the liver lipid changes induced by CCl4 could be partially explained by its antioxidant action and the ability to increase the synthesis/release of nitric oxide, but not by its soluble dietary fiber.

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.

Section snippets

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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