Chlorella vulgaris: A miracle plant?

Chlorella vulgaris (C. vulgaris), a unicellular green microalgae, has been widely used as a food supplement. It was reported to have massive amount of antioxidants such as carotenoids, vitamins E & C and enriched with several minerals. However not many studies have evaluated the chemopreventive potential of this algae against cancers. The aim of our study was to vary culture condition of C. vulgaris for best optimal growth and its hot water extract was tested for anti tumour activity by treating hepatocarcinogenesis induced rats with different doses of C. vulgaris. A plexiglas tank, measuring 1.3m in radius and 0.3m in depth, which amounts to 1000L in volume of cultured C. vulgaris was constructed. Male Wistar rats (200~250 g) were divided into eight groups: control group (normal diet), CDE group (choline deficient diet supplemented with ethionine in drinking water to induce hepatocarcinogenesis), C. vulgaris groups with three different doses of C. vulgaris (50, 150, and 300 mg/kg body weight), and CDE groups treated with different doses of C. vulgaris (50, 150, and 300 mg/kg body weight). Rats were sacrificed at various weeks and liver tissues were embedded in paraffin blocks for immunohistochemistry studies. By varying the culture condition of C. vulgaris we found that C. vulgaris grows best with optimum yield under 24h light and 10%. In vivo studies showed that C. vulgaris reduced tumour volume with concomitant reduction in the expressions of tumour marker alfa feto protein (AFP) and anti-inflammatory marker nuclear factor kappa B (NFκB) while inducing apoptosis in hepatocarcinogenesis induced rats. In conclusion, C. vulgaris extract is a miracle plant with myriads of health benefits.