Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 May 5;19(4):833-842.
doi: 10.1515/jcim-2021-0024. eCollection 2022 Dec 1.

The effect of Chlorella vulgaris on obesity related metabolic disorders: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Mahzad Sanayei  1   2 , Parinaz Kalejahi  1   2 , Mahsa Mahinkazemi  1   2 , Zahra Fathifar  3 , Ali Barzegar  4
Affiliations
Free article
Review

The effect of Chlorella vulgaris on obesity related metabolic disorders: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Mahzad Sanayei et al. J Complement Integr Med. .
Free article

Abstract

Objectives: Chlorella vulgaris (CV) as a unicellular algae is a dietary supplement with beneficial nutritious content, used for decades in some countries. Positive effects for CV supplementation on metabolic parameters has been established in animal and human studies. However there is a gap for this results summary for a definite conclusion announce. This systematic review aimed to summarize the effects of CV on body weight, lipid profile, and blood glucose.

Content: PRISMA guidelines were charted in this review. Subject search was performed in MEDLINE, ProQuest, PubMed, ISI web of sciences, Google scholar, Cochrane and Scopus databases for randomized clinical trials published in English languages, until December 2020, which assessed the effects of CV on metabolic syndrome related symptoms in clinical trials.

Summary: Out of 4,821 records screened, after duplicate and irrelevant exclusion by title and abstract, 20 articles remained for full text screening. Finally a total of 12 articles met the study inclusion criteria and were assessed for study method and results.

Outlook: The findings showed controversies in anthropometric, glycemic and lipid profile effects. CV may have beneficial effects on obesity-related metabolic disorders; however, collected studies lacked statistical power to reach a definite conclusion. More well-designed studies are required.

Keywords: Chlorella vulgaris; metabolic syndrome; obesity.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Prasad, D, Kabir, Z, Dash, A, Das, B. Abdominal obesity, an independent cardiovascular risk factor in Indian subcontinent: a clinico epidemiological evidence summary. J Cardiovasc Dis Res 2011;2:199–205. https://doi.org/10.4103/0975-3583.89803 . - DOI
    1. Seidell, JC, Halberstadt, J. The global burden of obesity and the challenges of prevention. Ann Nutr Metabol 2015;66(2 Suppl):7–12. https://doi.org/10.1159/000375143 . - DOI
    1. Williams, EP, Mesidor, M, Winters, K, Dubbert, PM, Wyatt, SB. Overweight and obesity: prevalence, consequences, and causes of a growing public health problem. Curr Obes Rep 2015;4:363–70. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13679-015-0169-4 . - DOI
    1. Wyatt, SB, Winters, KP, Dubbert, PM. Overweight and obesity: prevalence, consequences, and causes of a growing public health problem. Am J Med Sci 2006;331:166–74. https://doi.org/10.1097/00000441-200604000-00002 . - DOI
    1. Martinussen, C, Bojsen-Moller, KN, Svane, MS, Dejgaard, TF, Madsbad, S. Emerging drugs for the treatment of obesity. Expet Opin Emerg Drugs 2017;22:87–99. https://doi.org/10.1080/14728214.2017.1269744 . - DOI

LinkOut - more resources