Figure 1.

(A) Experimental design related to the animal model of HFD-induced hyperlipidaemia. (B) Weight changes in mice fed standard chow diet (ctrl), spirulina diet (SP), high fat diet (HFD), HFD + SP (pre-treatment) and HFD + SP (post-treatment). Spirulina was administered daily by oral gavage at a dose of 650 mg/kg (suspended in 1 mL water) during the 5-week (curative protocol, i.e., post-treatment) or 10-week (preventive protocol, pre-treatment) experimental period. Body weight was measured weekly for 10 weeks. Data represent the mean ± SEM of 8 mice per group. Two-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s multiple comparisons test was performed to test for differences among the groups. # p < 0.0001 vs. ctrl group; ** p < 0.01 and *** p < 0.001 vs. HFD group.