Enhancement of Natural Killer Cell Activity and Phagocytosis in Healthy Subjects by Immulina, a Spirulina Extract Enriched for Braun Type Lipoproteins

Immulina is a commercial extract of Spirulina (Arthrospira) platensis that is standardized by biological activity. We previously reported that this extract is a potent activator of THP-1 monocytes in vitro and that oral consumption enhanced several immunological functions in mice [1]. In this study we further characterized Immulina by determining that Braun type lipoproteins are responsible for a major portion of the in vitro monocyte activation exhibited by this material. In order to understand the effect of Immulina on the human immune system, a pilot study was conducted on ten healthy individuals who supplemented their diet with Immulina (400 mg/day) for seven days. Blood was drawn from the participating individuals at two time points: before and after seven days of Immulina supplementation. Changes in mononuclear and polymorphonuclear phagocytosis were determined in heparinized whole blood as well as the cytotoxicity exhibited by natural killer (NK) and lymphokine activated killer cells. We observed statistically significant increases both in tumor cell killing by NK cells (p = 0.0019) and in phagocytosis by blood mononuclear cells (p = 0.0124) after Immulina supplementation. Acknowledgements: This research was partly funded by a USDA, Agricultural Research Service Specific Cooperative Agreement No. 58-6408-012. Immulina capsules were supplied by Scandinavian Clinical Nutrition Denmark A/S, Greve, Denmark. References: [1] Balachandran P, et al. (2006), Inteternational Immunopharmacology, 6: 1808–1814.