Title:C-Phycocyanin-derived Phycocyanobilin as a Potential Nutraceutical Approach for Major Neurodegenerative Disorders and COVID-19- induced Damage to the Nervous System
Volume: 19
Issue: 12
Author(s): Giselle Pentón-Rol*, Javier Marín-Prida and Mark F. McCarty
Affiliation:
- Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Ave. 31 e/158 y 190, Playa. PO Box: 6162, Havana,Cuba
Keywords:
Phycocyanobilin, C-Phycocyanin, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, regulatory T cells, Alzheimer’s disease, Multiple
Sclerosis, ischemic stroke, Parkinson’s disease, COVID-19.
Abstract: The edible cyanobacterium Spirulina platensis and its chief biliprotein C-Phycocyanin
have shown protective activity in animal models of diverse human health diseases, often reflecting
antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. The beneficial effects of C-Phycocyanin seem likely to
be primarily attributable to its covalently attached chromophore Phycocyanobilin (PCB). Within
cells, biliverdin is generated from free heme and it is subsequently reduced to bilirubin. Although
bilirubin can function as an oxidant scavenger, its potent antioxidant activity reflects its ability to
inactivate some isoforms of NADPH oxidase. Free bilirubin can also function as an agonist for the
aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR); this may explain its ability to promote protective Treg activity in
cellular and rodent models of inflammatory disease. AhR agonists also promote transcription of the
gene coding for Nrf-2, and hence can up-regulate phase 2 induction of antioxidant enzymes, such as
HO-1. Hence, it is proposed that C-Phycocyanin/PCB chiefly exert their protective effects via inhibition
of NADPH oxidase activity, as well as by AhR agonism that both induces Treg activity and
up-regulates phase 2 induction. This simple model may explain their potent antioxidant/antiinflammatory
effects. Additionally, PCB might mimic biliverdin in activating anti-inflammatory
signaling mediated by biliverdin reductase. This essay reviews recent research in which CPhycocyanin
and/or PCB, administered orally, parenterally, or intranasally, have achieved marked
protective effects in rodent and cell culture models of Ischemic Stroke and Multiple Sclerosis, and
suggests that these agents may likewise be protective for Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease,
and in COVID-19 and its neurological complications.