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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Toxicol.

Sec. Food and Nutritional Toxicology

Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/ftox.2025.1654583

This article is part of the Research TopicThe Safety Assessment of Novel Foods and New Nutrient SourcesView all 3 articles

Toxicological assessment of Chlorella vulgaris and its potential preventive effect in a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) mouse model

Provisionally accepted
Lucia GiambastianiLucia Giambastiani1Sofia FiorentinoSofia Fiorentino1Kylie BradyKylie Brady1Andrea RaffaelliAndrea Raffaelli1Emilia BramantiEmilia Bramanti2ERNA CECILIA LORENZINIERNA CECILIA LORENZINI3Vincenzo LongoVincenzo Longo1Francesca SparvoliFrancesca Sparvoli4Luisa PozzoLuisa Pozzo1*Andrea VornoliAndrea Vornoli4
  • 1Institute of Agricultural Biology and Biotechnology, National Research Council (CNR), Milan, Italy
  • 2Istituto di Chimica dei Composti Organo Metallici Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Sezione di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
  • 3Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, University of Milan, Milano, Italy
  • 4Istituto di Biologia e Biotecnologia Agraria Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Milan, Italy

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Green microalgae, particularly Chlorella vulgaris, are a rich source of bioactive and nutritional compounds, making them promising candidates for nutraceutical applications. This study evaluated the antioxidant capacity, phenolic composition, and potential health effects of C. vulgaris supplementation (1% and 8%) in male BALB/c mice over four weeks, as well as its preventive role in a murine model of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The extract showed a high antioxidant potential, supported by its phenolic and carotenoid profile. Supplementation, especially at 8%, enhanced antioxidant defences without signs of liver or kidney toxicity. In the COPD model, C. vulgaris reduced inflammation, improved oxidative stress balance, and partially restored normal lung structure. Additionally, changes in caecal metabolites suggested a positive impact on gut microbiota and metabolic homeostasis. Overall, C. vulgaris supplementation demonstrated detoxifying, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory benefits, supporting its potential use as a functional food, particularly under stress-related conditions such as COPD.

Keywords: Chlorella vulgaris, Green microalgae, Carotenoids, Polyphenols, drug metabolism, Inflammation, Oxidative Stress

Received: 26 Jun 2025; Accepted: 16 Oct 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Giambastiani, Fiorentino, Brady, Raffaelli, Bramanti, LORENZINI, Longo, Sparvoli, Pozzo and Vornoli. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Luisa Pozzo, luisa.pozzo@cnr.it

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary Material