Chlorella Supplement Improves Antibody Response to Flu Vaccine

HALIFAX, Nova ScotiaOcean Nutrition Canada announced results of a study showing its Respondin Chlorella extract boosted the immune response to a flu vaccination in subjects ages 50 to 55. The research was conducted by investigators at the Dalhousie University and published in the July 22 issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal (169, 2:111-17, 2003) (www.cmaj.ca).

The study involved 124 healthy adults at least 50 years of age who were given either a placebo or one of two doses of the chlorella-derived dietary supplement (200 mg/d or 400 mg/d) for four weeks. After three weeks, all subjects received the 2000/2001 flu season vaccine, which contained three flu strains. While there were no differences between groups in achieving at least a four-fold increase in antibodies, those subjects ages 50 to 55 who were taking the high-dose treatment had significantly higher geometric mean antibody titres against two of the three influenza strains. Researchers concluded the chlorella-derived supplement did not increase antibody response to the influenza vaccine in the overall study population, although there was an antibody response in the particular subgroup.

Our clinical study clearly demonstrates Respondin has a biological effect in humans, increasing the antibody response to a flu vaccine in this population, Scott Halperin, M.D., said in an Ocean Nutrition press release. These results have raised the bar, showing that natural products can be studied for clinical effect in a pharmaceutical-caliber study. The true clinical role for Respondin needs to be determined through future study.