Tamel Selvan Kartthigeen, Goon Jo Aan, Makpol Suzana, Tan Jen Kit
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Jalan Ya'acob Latiff, Bandar Tun Razak, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia.
Antioxidants (Basel). 2023 Feb 10;12(2):449. doi: 10.3390/antiox12020449.
Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of metabolic disturbances, including abdominal obesity, hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and hyperglycemia. Adopting a healthier lifestyle and multiple drug-based therapies are current ways to manage MetS, but they have limited efficacy, albeit the prevalence of MetS is rising. Microalgae is a part of the human diet and has also been consumed as a health supplement to improve insulin sensitivity, inflammation, and several components of MetS. These therapeutic effects of microalgae are attributed to the bioactive compounds present in them that exhibit antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-obesity, antihypertensive, hepatoprotective and immunomodulatory effects. Therefore, studies investigating the potential of microalgae in alleviating MetS are becoming more popular, but a review on this topic remains scarce. In this review, we discuss the effects of microalgae, specifically on MetS, by reviewing the evidence from scientific literature covering in vitro and in vivo studies. In addition, we also discuss the underlying mechanisms that modulate the effects of microalgae on MetS, and the limitations and future perspectives of developing microalgae as a health supplement for MetS. Microalgae supplementation is becoming a viable approach in alleviating metabolic disturbances and as a unique addition to the management of MetS.
代谢综合征（MetS）是一组代谢紊乱，包括腹型肥胖、高血压、高甘油三酯血症、高密度脂蛋白胆固醇（HDL-C）降低和高血糖。采用更健康的生活方式和多种药物治疗是目前管理代谢综合征的方法，但尽管代谢综合征的患病率在上升，它们的疗效却有限。微藻是人类饮食的一部分，也被作为健康补充剂食用，以改善胰岛素敏感性、炎症以及代谢综合征的几个组成部分。微藻的这些治疗作用归因于其中存在的生物活性化合物，这些化合物具有抗氧化、抗炎、抗肥胖、抗高血压、肝脏保护和免疫调节作用。因此，研究微藻在缓解代谢综合征方面潜力的研究越来越受欢迎，但关于这一主题的综述仍然很少。在本综述中，我们通过回顾来自涵盖体外和体内研究的科学文献的证据，讨论微藻的作用，特别是对代谢综合征的作用。此外，我们还讨论了调节微藻对代谢综合征作用的潜在机制，以及将微藻开发为代谢综合征健康补充剂的局限性和未来前景。补充微藻正成为缓解代谢紊乱的一种可行方法，并成为代谢综合征管理的独特补充。
