Table 2.
Healing effect of selected microalgae in animal studies.
| Spirulina/Extract | Research Model | Animal Age | Number of Experimental Groups | Number of Animals | Duration of EXPERIMENTS (Days) | Main Conclusions | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Healing effects | |||||||
| Spirulina protein (SPCP) | C57BL/6 mice | n.d. | 1G. Control 2G. Treated with Vaseline containing 10 μg/g of epidermal growth factor (EGF) 3G. Treated with Vaseline containing 2% of SPCP 4G Treated with Vaseline containing 4% of SPCP and EGF |
20 | 5 | SPCP proved to be an effective phytotherapeutic ingredient supporting wound healing. The ERK, Akt, and TGF β1 signalling pathways played a major role in this process. | [46] |
| Spirulina ethanol extract | Wistar rats | 2–3 months | 1G. Negative control—physiological saline solution 2G. Positive control—0.1% Gentamicin ointment 3G. S. platensis extract and 0.1% cream 4G. S. platensis extract and 0.1% ointment |
30 | 14 | Ointments with S. platensis extract (0.1%) increased the number of fibroblasts and accelerated the wound healing process. | [168] |
| Phycocyanin S. platensis | Candida-infected mice | 10 weeks | 1G. Control treated with cream with no active substance 2G. Treated with cream with 1.5% of phycocyanin 1G. Treated with cream with 3% of phycocyanin |
15 | 14 | The wound size was calculated using an appropriate equation. | [173] |
| Spirulina (5%) | Wistar rats | 3–4 months | 1G. Control 2G. Diabetic rats receiving standard diet 3G. Diabetic rats with spirulina supplementation (50 g/kg/day) 4G. Diabetic rats with chlorella supplementation (50 g/kg/day) 5G. Diabetic rats with chlorella and spirulina supplementation (25 g/kg/day of chlorella and 25 g/kg/day of spirulina) |
65 | 21 | The diet of diabetic rats supplemented with spirulina, chlorella, and their combination had a beneficial effect on wound healing, e.g., it improved the formation of granulation tissue, vascularisation, and regeneration of epithelium tissue. Spirulina and chlorella were recommended for use in phytotherapy of various types of wounds. | [174] |
| S. platensis water extract | ‘Swiss Albino’ mice | 8–10 weeks | 1G. Control 2G. Treatment with 125 mg/kg of biafine ointment (trolamine 0.67 g/100 g) 3G. Aqueous solution of spirulina paste (0.5%) |
n.d. | 35 | The extract accelerated the healing of mechanical, chemical, and thermal burns and hair growth. Spirulina can be used as a therapeutic wound healing agent in complementary therapy and conventional medicine. | [175] |
| ‘White’ rabbits | 2–3 months | 9 | |||||
Explanation: no data (n.d); group (G).