Short Communication: Neuroprotective Effect of Spirulina in a Mouse Model of ALS

ABSTRACT

Nutritional approaches to the treatment of aging and neurodegenerative diseases have been shown to have potential benefits. Fruits or vegetables provide a cocktail of phytochemicals with multiple actions. Spirulina, a blue green alga used for thousands of years as a food source by the Aztecs, is known to contain large amounts of β-carotene and several phycocyanins with potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. We examined neuroprotective effects of a spirulina 0.1% supplemented diet in the G93A SOD1 mouse model of ALS beginning at 5 weeks of age and continuing for 10 weeks. Spirulina dietary supplement significantly maintained body weight and extension reflex, and reduced inflammatory markers and motor neuron degeneration in G93A mice. These findings provide initial evidence that nutrition supplementation with spirulina has a neuroprotective support for dying motor neurons. A spirulina supplemented diet may be a potential alternative or adjunctive treatment for ALS.