Chlorella vulgaris culture supernatant (CVS) reduces psychological stress-induced apoptosis in thymocytes of mice

Chlorella, a unicellular green algae, can divide into four cells every 16–20 h, utilizing sunlight for photosynthesis. Chlorella cells contain 55–67%protein, 1–4% chlorophylls, 9–18% dietary fiber and large amounts of minerals and vitamins. At present, Chlorella is widely sold as a health sup-plement in Japan, the US and other countries. Recently, we have reported that a glycoprotein-rich substance was released from Chlorella vulgaris strain CK-22 cells into the culture medium. The substances, designated as C. vulgaris culture supernatant (CVS), is a glycoprotein with an approximate molecular weight 63 100 amu and contains 6-linked b-(1–6) galactopyranose-rich carbohydrate (66.9%) and protein (35.2%). It was reported that intra-tumor administration of CVS showed anti-tumor effects on both spontaneous and experimentally induced metastasis in mice.

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