Investigation of Antitumor Activity of Phycocyanin Obtained from Spirulina (Arthrospira) platensis in Mice

Sibel Oğuzkan, İzzettin Güler, Betül Güroy, Kemal Bakır and Mehmet Özaslan

Background and Objective: Spirulina contains two types of biliproteins, i.e., C-phycocyanin and allophycocyanin. In this current in vivo study, phycocyanin’s antitumor impact was examined following its administration by gavage feeding to BALB/c mice with Ehrlich ascites tumor (EAT). Materials and Methods: Phycocyanin was administered to three different experimental groups, treatment, control and prophylaxis in different concentrations and the antitumor activity in each group was detected in terms of a dosage effect. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 21 software, with the results expressed either as standard deviation or percentage. Results: Total antioxidant level (TAL) of the prophylaxis group was found to be statistically significant compared with the control group. When the prophylaxis groups were statistically compared with each other, a significant increase was observed in the values as the dose increased, while a statistically significant difference was found in terms of antioxidant activity between the prophylaxis group 1, which was administered the lowest phycocyanin dose and the prophylaxis group 4, which was administered the highest phycocyanin dose. When the TAL, total oxidant level (TOL), Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT) and Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST) values of the treatment groups were statistically compared with the control group 2, it was detected that treatment group 4 had the highest TAL value, with a statistical significance. Conclusion: In the pathological evaluations, the highest dose of phycocyanin was found to be effective against EAT in both treatment and prophylaxis groups.

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