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Effects on Spirulina Supplementation on Immune Cells’ Parameters of Elite College Athletes

Zhang, Yuting, Zhang, Yan, Wu, Wei, Xu, Yining, Li, Xiaohan, Qiu, Qiner, Chen, Haimin·2022·Nutrients
DOI 10.3390/nu14204346PMC PMC9612057
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Abstract

Objective: To identify the effect of spirulina supplementation on the immune cells’ indicators of young soccer players during the preparation period of a tournament. Methods: 39 undergraduate male soccer players were recruited and randomly allocated into a spirulina supplementation group (SP group, n = 20) and the placebo supplementation group (PB group, n = 19). Their elbow venous blood samples were collected before and after the preparation period of a tournament, which included 8 weeks total. The differences within the group and between groups were recorded and analyzed. Results: The ratio of the basophils in the SP group between the pre-test and post-test were statistically significantly different (p < 0.05). In the PB group, the percentage of before and after in leukocytes and monocytes were statistically significantly different (p < 0.05). In the data of the post-test, the percentage of monocytes and basophils between the SP group and PB group were statistically significantly different. The delta variations of monocytes between groups were significantly different (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Intense long-duration exercise can reduce the ratio of leukocytes and monocytes in young athletes, yet the spirulina supplement can inhibit the change. It also might improve immunity to parasites, pathogenic bacterium, and rapid-onset allergies.

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  • In elite college athletes, the average daily intake of Spirulina is 6 g, equivalent to 6 g per 60 kg body weight per day (approximately 100 mg/kg/day).

    “In elite college athletes, the average daily intake of Spirulina is 6 g, which is equivalent to 6 g per 60 kg of body weight per day (approximately 100 milligrams per kilogram per day) [17].”

    From Spirulina Supplementation Alleviates Intense Exercise-Induced Damage and Modulates Gut Microbiota in Mice (2025) · cites this paper as [17]

  • Previous research confirmed that Spirulina supplement can inhibit the decrease in the ratio of leukocytes and monocytes in young athletes induced by intense long-duration exercise.

    “Our previous research has confirmed that the Spirulina supplement can inhibit the decrease in the ratio of leukocytes and monocytes in young athletes, which is induced by intense long-duration exercise [17].”

    From Spirulina Supplementation Alleviates Intense Exercise-Induced Damage and Modulates Gut Microbiota in Mice (2025) · cites this paper as [17]

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Zhang, Y., Zhang, Y., Wu, W., Xu, Y., Li, X., Qiu, Q., & Chen, H.
Venue
Nutrients
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2022-10-17
Volume
14
Issue
20
Pages
4346
ISSN
2072-6643
DOI
10.3390/nu14204346
PMC
PMC9612057
Cited by
8
References
3
Language
en
Licence
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (vor)
Funders
  • National Key R&amp;D Program of China (2018YFD0901103, 2018YFD0900305, 31872540, 31772871, 2021C02069-9, LQ20D060001, LY22C190002, 2021Z004, 2021Z104, 2021S063, 202002N3171)
  • NSFC (2018YFD0901103, 2018YFD0900305, 31872540, 31772871, 2021C02069-9, LQ20D060001, LY22C190002, 2021Z004, 2021Z104, 2021S063, 202002N3171)
  • Major Scientific and Technological Project of Zhejiang Province (2018YFD0901103, 2018YFD0900305, 31872540, 31772871, 2021C02069-9, LQ20D060001, LY22C190002, 2021Z004, 2021Z104, 2021S063, 202002N3171)
  • Zhejiang Province Nature Science Foundation of China (2018YFD0901103, 2018YFD0900305, 31872540, 31772871, 2021C02069-9, LQ20D060001, LY22C190002, 2021Z004, 2021Z104, 2021S063, 202002N3171)
  • Major Scientific and Technological Project of Ningbo (2018YFD0901103, 2018YFD0900305, 31872540, 31772871, 2021C02069-9, LQ20D060001, LY22C190002, 2021Z004, 2021Z104, 2021S063, 202002N3171)
  • Scientific and Technological Project of Ningbo (2018YFD0901103, 2018YFD0900305, 31872540, 31772871, 2021C02069-9, LQ20D060001, LY22C190002, 2021Z004, 2021Z104, 2021S063, 202002N3171)
  • Public-Benefit Foundation of Ningbo (2018YFD0901103, 2018YFD0900305, 31872540, 31772871, 2021C02069-9, LQ20D060001, LY22C190002, 2021Z004, 2021Z104, 2021S063, 202002N3171)
  • China Agriculture Research System of MOF and MARA (2018YFD0901103, 2018YFD0900305, 31872540, 31772871, 2021C02069-9, LQ20D060001, LY22C190002, 2021Z004, 2021Z104, 2021S063, 202002N3171)
  • K.C. Wong Magna Fund in Ningbo University (2018YFD0901103, 2018YFD0900305, 31872540, 31772871, 2021C02069-9, LQ20D060001, LY22C190002, 2021Z004, 2021Z104, 2021S063, 202002N3171)

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