Impact of Daily Chlorella Consumption on Serum Lipid Profiles in Hypercholesterolemic Subjects: A review

Background and objectives: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the leading causes of death throughout the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) has predicted that the global prevalence of CVD will reach 24 million by 2030 .Diet is an important factor controlling serum lipids and consequently the occurrence of coronary heart disease .Chlorella is single-celled green alga that is widely marketed as a dietary supplement because of its easy incorporation into a variety of foods. It is a rich nutritional ingredient because it contains 61.6% proteins, 12.5% fat, 13.7% carbohydrates, trace elements (aluminum, selenium, phosphorus, zinc, calcium, and magnesium), and vitamins (thiamine, B1, B2, B6, ascorbic acid, D, E, and K),long-chain polyunsaturated fattyacids. Especially, omega-3 fatty acid and carotenoids have received considerable interests due to their roles in the prevention of chronic diseases and maintaining good health. Feeding microalgae to elderly people or animals has been demonstrated to protect against age-dependent diseases, particularly cardiac hypertension or hiperlipidemia.The objective of this study is to conduct a systematic review to summarize the effect of chlorella on lipid profile.Methods: This systematic review was conducted by using Pubmed, Google scholar and Science direct data bases. Chlorella vulgaris , lipid profile , lipid metabolism , were used as the keywords and among 221 articles, 57 articles were compatible with the study protocol. These different aspects are discussed in consideration of the scientific literature of the last 7years.Results: In 57 articles, 51 studies showed that it has an antihyperlipidemic effect and 6 study indicated that chlorella doesn’t have a significant effect on profile lipid.Conclusion: C. vulgaris provided the potential of health benefits reducing serum lipid risk factors, mainly triglycerides and total cholesterol, in mildly hypercholesterolemic subjects. Although further studies are required to determine the direct effects of Chlorella for the absorptions of dietary lipids, the results of this study provide evidence to previous observations, which suggest that Chlorella should be included on the list for recommending heart-healthy dietary supplements

Keywords:

Chlorella vulgaris , Lipid profile , Lipid metabolism