Table 4.

Characteristics of included randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

Reference	Location	Quality Score	Study Design	No. of Subjects	Health Status	Intervention Duration	Spirulina Group	Control Group	Outcomes Studied
Martinez-Samano et al., 2018 [15]	Mexico	2	Parallel	16	Systemic arterial hypertension	12 weeks	4.5 g per day of Spirulina maxima	Placebo	SBP, DBP
Miczke et al., 2016 [16]	Poland	4	Parallel	80	Systemic arterial hypertension	12 weeks	2 g per day of Hawaiian Spirulina maxima	Placebo consisted of pure microcrystalline cellulose	SBP, DBP
Lee et al., 2008 [17]	South Korea	3	Parallel	37	Diabetes mellitus type 2	12 weeks	8 g per day of of freeze-dried Spirulina	Received nothing (control group was instructed not to take any functional foods or supplements)	SBP, DBP
Jensen et al., 2016 [18]	USA	3	Parallel	24	Adults 25–65 years of age with BMI < 35 and chronic pain related to specific joint(s) for >6 months	2 weeks	2.3 g per day of of phycocyanin-enriched aqueous extract from Arthrospira (Spirulina) platensis	Placebo	SBP, DBP
Moradi et al., 2021 [19]	Iran	5	Parallel	73	Ulcerative colitis	8 weeks	1 g per day of Spirulina	Placebo	SBP, DBP