Toxicological, phytochemical, and antibacterial assessment of Chlorella vulgaris and Spirulina platensis powder in albino rats. A preliminary study

Objectives: To describe acute toxicity, antibacterial activity and phytochemical assessment of Chlorella vulgaris and Spirulina platensis powders. Material and Methods: FeCl3 test, Wagner test, Keller Killiani test, frothing test, alkaline solution and dilute acid; concentrated sulphuric acid were used for phytochemical analysis. Antibacterial screening of the extracts was conducted using the disc gel diffusion method in E. coli, S. aureus and B. cereus clinical strains. In order to evaluate acute toxicity and its effects on haematological and biochemical parameters; 15 albino rats were grouped into five groups: I (powder of aqueous extract of Chlorella vulgaris), II (powder of methanol extract of Chlorella vulgaris), III (powder of aqueous extract of Spirulina platensis), IV (powder of methanol extract of Spirulina platensis) and V (control). The dosage was 25g/day/rat. After six days, haematological and biochemical parameters and gross pathologic changes were evaluated. Results: Alkaloids and flavonoids were detected from the methanol extracts of both Chlorella vulgaris and Spirulina platensis (Arthrospira). Only cardiac glycosides and steroids were detected from Spirulina's extracts. Chlorella vulgaris extracts significantly inhibited B. cereus. Rats fed with Chlorella vulgaris and Spirulina platensis powder showed an increase in white blood cell counts and haemoglobin level compared to negative control rats (p<0.001). Serum glumatic oxalate transaminase (SGOT) and serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT) had normal values but significative differences between groups (p<0.001). Conclusion: This powder is rich in bioactive phytochemicals but only Chlorella's extracts have shown antibacterial effect. Signs of toxicity weren't found in any parameter.

Objetivos: Describir la toxicidad aguda, efecto antibacteriano y análisis fitoquímico de los polvos de Chlorella vulgaris y Spirulina platensis. Materiales y métodos: Se realizaron las pruebas de FeCl3, Keller Killiani, de saponinas, solución alcalina y de concentración de ácido sulfúrico para el análisis fitoquímico. El efecto antibacteriano de los extractos fue evaluado mediante el método de difusión con discos en cepas de E. coli, S. aureus y B. cereus. Para evaluar la toxicidad aguda y los efectos del polvo en parámetros hematológicos y bioquímicos, se agruparon 15 ratas albinas en cinco grupos: I (polvo de extracto acuoso de Chlorella vulgaris); II (polvo de extracto metanólico de Chlorella vulgaris); III (polvo de extracto acuoso de Spirulina platensis); IV (polvo de extracto metanólico de Spirulina platensis), y V (grupo control). La dosis usada fue de 25 g/día/rata. Después de seis días, se evaluaron todos los parámetros y cambios macroscópicos en los órganos. Resultados: Se encontraron alcaloides y flavonoides en los extractos metanólicos de Chlorella vulgaris y Spirulina platensis (Arthrospira). Se detectaron glucósidos cardiacos y esteroides en los extractos de Spirulina platensis. Los extractos de Chlorella vulgaris inhibieron el crecimiento de Bacillus cereus. Las ratas alimentadas con los polvos de Chlorella vulgaris y Spirulina platensis incrementaron el conteo de leucocitos y los valores de hemoglobina comparados con el grupo control (p<0,001). Las transaminasas (SGOT y SGPT) se encontraron en valores normales, pero con diferencias significativas entre los grupos (p<0,001). Conclusiones: Estos polvos son ricos en componentes fitoquímicos activos, pero solo los extractos de Chorella vulgaris mostraron efecto antibacteriano. No se encontraron signos de toxicidad aguda en ningún parámetro.

Trinta dias na casa de tiros: o estranho caso do Dr. Edmund Forster e Adolf Hitler / Thirty days at the shooting house: the strange case of Dr. Edmund Forster and Adolf Hitler

Em 1918, em um hospital militar da reserva situado na pequena cidade pomerânia de Pasewalk, o neuropsiquiatra Prof. Edmund Forster tratou de um cabo austríaco chamado Adolf Hitler, que apresentava uma neurose de guerra (cegueira histérica), utilizando-se de técnicas terapêuticas sugestivas. Logo após a ascensão de Hitler ao poder na Alemanha nazista, em 1933, o Prof. Forster reuniu-se com um grupo de escritores alemães exilados em Paris e secretamente passou a eles informações sobre o caso. O escritor Ernst Weiss, também médico, mais tarde utilizou tais informações para escrever seu romance A Testemunha Ocular, que, porém, só seria publicado em 1963. Em circunstâncias estranhas, o Prof. Forster cometeu suicídio após uma campanha difamatória sistemática articulada pelos nazistas em 1933. Weiss também cometeu suicídio em 1940, quando as tropas alemãs invadiram Paris. A Gestapo também assassinou diversas outras pessoas envolvidas no prontuário médico de Hitler.

In 1918, in a military reserve hospital located in the small pomeranian town of Pasewalk, the neuropsychiatrist Prof. Edmund Forster treated an Austrian caporal called Adolf Hitler, suffering from a war neurosis (hysterical blindness), by means of suggestive techniques. Soon after the Hitler's ascension to the power in the Nazi Germany, in 1933, Dr. Forster met with a group of exiled writers living in Paris and secretly gave them information about the case. The writer Ernst Weiss, also he a physician, latter used this information in order to produce his novel "The Eye Witness", which would be published only in 1963. In strange circumstances, Prof. Forster committed suicide after successive defamatory statements in 1933. Weiss also committed suicide in 1940, when German troops invaded Paris. The Gestapo murdered several other persons involved in the Hitler's medical chart.