Barakat Waleed, Elshazly Shimaa M, Mahmoud Amr A A
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44519, Egypt ; Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabuk University, Tabuk 71491, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44519, Egypt.
Adv Pharmacol Sci. 2015;2015:132873. doi: 10.1155/2015/132873. Epub 2015 Aug 20.
Spirulina is a blue-green alga used as a dietary supplement. It has been shown to possess anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and hepatoprotective properties. This study was designed to evaluate the antitumor effect of spirulina (200 and 800 mg/kg) against a murine model of solid Ehrlich carcinoma compared to a standard chemotherapeutic drug, 5-fluorouracil (20 mg/kg). Untreated mice developed a palpable solid tumor after 13 days. Unlike fluorouracil, spirulina at the investigated two dose levels failed to exert any protective effect. In addition, spirulina did not potentiate the antitumor effect of fluorouracil when they were administered concurrently. Interestingly, their combined administration resulted in a dose-dependent increase in mortality. The present study demonstrates that spirulina lacks antitumor effect against this model of solid Ehrlich carcinoma and increased mortality when combined with fluorouracil. However, the implicated mechanism is still elusive.
螺旋藻是一种用作膳食补充剂的蓝绿藻。已证明它具有抗炎、抗氧化和保肝特性。本研究旨在评估螺旋藻（200和800毫克/千克）与标准化疗药物5-氟尿嘧啶（20毫克/千克）相比，对实体艾氏癌小鼠模型的抗肿瘤作用。未治疗的小鼠在13天后出现可触及的实体瘤。与氟尿嘧啶不同，在所研究的两个剂量水平下，螺旋藻未能发挥任何保护作用。此外，当同时给予螺旋藻和氟尿嘧啶时，螺旋藻并未增强氟尿嘧啶的抗肿瘤作用。有趣的是，它们联合给药导致死亡率呈剂量依赖性增加。本研究表明，螺旋藻对这种实体艾氏癌模型缺乏抗肿瘤作用，并且与氟尿嘧啶联合使用时会增加死亡率。然而，其中涉及的机制仍然难以捉摸。
