Spirulina Microalgae and Brain Health: A Scoping Review of Experimental and Clinical Evidence.

Vincenzo Sorrenti,Alessandro Buriani,Giovanni Scapagnini,Davide Augusto Castagna,Stefano Fortinguerra,Donald Craig Willcox

doi:10.3390/md19060293

Abstract

Spirulina microalgae contain a plethora of nutrient and non-nutrient molecules providing brain health benefits. Numerous in vivo evidence has provided support for the brain health potential of spirulina, highlighting antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective mechanisms. Preliminary clinical studies have also suggested that spirulina can help to reduce mental fatigue, protect the vascular wall of brain vessels from endothelial damage and regulate internal pressure, thus contributing to the prevention and/or mitigating of cerebrovascular conditions. Furthermore, the use of spirulina in malnourished children appears to ameliorate motor, language, and cognitive skills, suggesting a reinforcing role in developmental mechanisms. Evidence of the central effect of spirulina on appetite regulation has also been shown. This review aims to understand the applicative potential of spirulina microalgae in the prevention and mitigation of brain disorders, highlighting the nutritional value of this “superfood”, and providing the current knowledge on relevant molecular mechanisms in the brain associated with its dietary introduction.

Highlights

The brain is the body’s central control center for most physiological activities processing, integrating, and coordinating the information from peripheral sense organs, and responding with centrally elaborated instructions appropriately conveyed back to the periphery in each area of the body [1]
Proper dietary factors can contribute to maintaining neuronal functions and synaptic plasticity, through the activation of pivotal biological mechanisms underlying brain health and mental functions
This review focuses on the beneficial effects of spirulina microalgae in the prevention or mitigation of brain disorders by analyzing the potential neuroprotective molecular mechanisms highlighted in current experimental data in vitro and in vivo studies, as well as in preliminary clinical observations that seem to encourage the use of spirulina for brain health

Summary

Introduction

The brain is the body’s central control center for most physiological activities processing, integrating, and coordinating the information from peripheral sense organs, and responding with centrally elaborated instructions appropriately conveyed back to the periphery in each area of the body [1]. Following a healthy lifestyle and providing dietary nutrients and non-nutrient molecules can help to prevent or mitigate brain disorders that in turn, can affect the entire body’s functions [1,2]. Brain disorders include several conditions or disabilities that affect the brain and are caused by degenerative diseases, mental illnesses, and genetic or traumatic injuries [2]. It is known how diet can contribute to and influence the development of several neurodegenerative and mental diseases, in particular the lack of specific molecules essential for the brain [2]. A diet rich in omega 3, choline, magnesium, B vitamins and vitamin D, specific amino acids, and phytoderivates derived

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