What this work is about, in plain words
Mesenchymal stem cells are bone marrow cells that give rise to bone, cartilage and fat tissue. The authors tested in vitro how extracts of microalgae and cyanobacteria act on them.
Mesenchymal stem cells are used in research on tissue repair. Growing them requires nutrient supplements, and there are data in the literature that chlorella extract can partly replace serum in the culture medium. The authors tested how extracts of other microalgae and cyanobacteria act on these cells.
Extracts in a 1 % DMSO solution were prepared from the green alga Tetraselmis viridis, the cyanobacteria Leptolyngbya cf. ectocarpi, Planktothrix agardhii and Roholtiella mixta, the diatom Nanofrustulum shiloi, and dried culture liquid of the diatom. These, as well as fucoxanthin and phycocyanin, were added to human and rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. Cell viability and proliferation and their nitric oxide production were measured.
According to the authors, most of the extracts, as well as fucoxanthin, enhanced cell proliferation and viability. The exceptions were the N. shiloi extract for human cells and phycocyanin for rat cells. The extracts and phycocyanin increased nitric oxide production; in human cells this was dose-dependent, except for N. shiloi and Leptolyngbya.
Limitations. A brief abstract: the methods and figures are not given in full. Experiments in vitro; this is not proof of an effect in the body. The same data are presented in the BGRS-2024 abstracts. The results were obtained by the authors and do not describe Laboratory 17 materials.