Preclinical and Limited Clinical Evidence for Spirulina in Ulcerative Colitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Area of Science:

• Gastroenterology
• Pharmacology
• Nutraceuticals

Background:

• Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic gastrointestinal inflammatory disease.
• Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) is a natural agent with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review animal and clinical studies on spirulina's effects on ulcerative colitis.
• To evaluate spirulina's potential as a therapeutic agent for UC.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature search of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Embase (1980-April 2024).
• Inclusion of experimental studies on mammalian models or patients with UC.
• Meta-analysis of pooled effect sizes using mean differences (MD) or standardized mean differences (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

Main Results:

• 16 animal studies and 3 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included from 1,321 identified documents.
• Spirulina demonstrated beneficial effects in animal models, including improved body weight, clinical features, colon length, oxidative stress, inflammatory markers, and gut microbiota.
• In the single RCT, no effect on disease activity was observed, but improvements in quality of life, oxidative stress, sleep, stress, and anemia were noted.

Conclusions:

• Animal studies indicate positive effects of spirulina on ulcerative colitis.
• The limited number of high-quality clinical trials restricts definitive conclusions regarding spirulina's efficacy in humans.
• Further rigorous clinical research is warranted to confirm spirulina's therapeutic potential for UC.