Efficacy of Dried Green Algae on Hematological Parameters and Body Weight of Obese Anemic Rats

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Nutrition and Food Science Dept., Faculty of Home Economics, Helwan University, Egypt.

Abstract

Obesity is a risk factor for several comorbidities and complications, this includes iron deficiency anemia. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of dried green algae (Spirulina platensis) on hematological parameters of obese anemic rats. The current study was performed on 35 adult male rats. Rats (n=35) were divided into two main groups. The first group (7rats) was fed on basal diet as negative control group. The second group (28 rats) were fed on high fat diet, deficient in iron and adding 10 g tannic acid/kg diet to cause obese anemic model then were divided into 4 subgroups, the 1st subgroup was fed on high fat diet and kept as a control positive group while, other subgroups 3, 4 and 5 were fed on high fat diet and supplemented with 2.5%, 5%, and 7%, dried spirulina, respectively. Supplementation with spirulina dried at the tested levels overcome (P<0.05) obesity and cause improvement in hematocrit, hemoglobin, red blood cells and platelets of the treated groups. In conclusion, data suggested that spirulina may be useful for obese anemic patients, so it is worthy trial on humans.

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