JOURNAL OF GENETICS, vol.2022, no.101, pp.1-11, 2022 (SCI-Expanded)
Spirulina platensis has gradually gained more attention for its therapeutic, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory potential
worldwide. However, the current molecular knowledge about the effects of spirulina on stress-related genes is rather limited. The effects of
dietary intake of spirulina on the HSP70 gene expression were assessed in a controlled in vivo experimental design. Moreover, alterations in
serum corticosterone levels, IL-2, IL-4, IFN-c, triglyceride, ALT, AST, relative gene expression values, and the correlations between them
were evaluated. A total of 36 rats were divided into four groups: control group, stress-only group, spirulina group, and spirulina?stress
group. To control the dose administration, S. platensis was applied by a gastric gavage in stress groups. Crowded environment stress and
hosting alone stress were applied to the stress-only group and spirulina ? stress group. RNA was extracted from brain samples using
TRIpure and the relative gene expression assessment was performed using Roche-LightCycler-480-II real-time PCR-System. Gene
expression values were remarkably different among the four experimental groups. The differences between stress-only and the spirulina
groups were statistically significant (P\0.05). The correlation between the HSP70 gene expression and the IFN-c was found to be
statistically significant (P\0.05; r=0.50). Results indicate a novel effect of spirulina on the HSP70 expression related to the stress-response.
Data presented in this study may be useful for further studies to define not only the molecular genetic aspects through dietary S. platensis
but also the effects of spirulina on stress-response and animal welfare.