Chlorella vulgaris treatment ameliorates the suppressive effects of single and repeated stressors on hematopoiesis.

The reports regarding the mutual influence between the central nervous system and the immune system constitute a vast and somewhat controversial body of literature. Stress is known to disturb homeostasis, impairing immunological functions. In this study, we investigated the hematopoietic response of Chlorella vulgaris (CV)-treated mice exposed to single (SST) and repeated stress (RST). We observed a reduction in the numbers of hematopoietic progenitors (HP) in the bone marrow and long-term bone marrow cultures (LTBMC) using flow cytometry and a coinciding decrease in the number of granulocyte-macrophage colonies (CFU-GM) after treatment with both stressors, but SST caused a more profound suppression. We observed a proportional increase in the colony-stimulating activity (CSA) of the serum of animals subjected to SST or RST. In the bone marrow, SST and RST induced a decrease in both mature myeloid and lymphoid populations but did not affect pluripotent hematopoietic progenitors (Lin(-)Sca-1(+)c-kit(+), LSK), and again, a more profound suppression was observed after SST. We further quantified the levels of interleukin-1α (IL-1α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) and the number of myeloid cells in LTBMC. Both SST and RST reduced the levels of these cytokines to similar degrees. The myeloid population was also reduced in LTBMC, and SST induced a more intense suppression. Importantly, CV treatment prevented the changes produced by SST and RST in all of the parameters evaluated. Together, our results suggest that CV treatment is an effective tool for the prophylaxis of myelosuppression caused by single or repeated stressors.

Chlorella vulgaris restores bone marrow cellularity and cytokine production in lead-exposed mice.

Chlorella vulgaris (CV) was examined for its modulating effects on the reduction induced by lead (Pb) on the numbers of marrow hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) (c-Kit(+)Lin(-)), granulocyte-macrophage progenitors (Gr1(+)Mac1(+)) and total bone marrow cellularity. In mice gavage-treated daily with 50mg/kg dose of CV for 10 days, concomitant to a continuous offering of 1300 ppm lead acetate in drinking water, the treatment with the algae recovered the significantly reduced numbers of these cell populations to control values. As CV may have a myelostimulating effect through the induction of cytokines, we evaluated its modulating effects on the production of IL-1α, TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-10 and IL-6. Our results demonstrated that lead significantly impairs the production of IFN-γ, IL-1α and TNF-α and increases the production of IL-10 and IL-6 and that these effects are successfully modulated by the CV treatment. The activity of NK cells, reduced in Pb-exposed animals, was raised to levels higher than those of controls in the exposed group treated with CV. Treatment with the algae also stimulated the production of IFN-γ, IL-1α, TNF-α and NK cells activity in normal mice. In addition, zinc bone concentrations, reduced in lead-exposed mice, were partially, but significantly, reversed by the treatment with CV.