Oxidative stress contributes to chronic inflammatory processes implicated in aging, referred to as "inflamm-aging." In this study, the potential anti-inflammatory and anti-aging effects of a pigment-protein complex (PPC) from Chlorella pyrenoidosa were investigated using lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages and D-galactose (D-gal)-induced aging in a murine model. Results indicated that PPC inhibits the production of the inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-6, and the inflammatory mediator nitric oxide (NO) in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. It also protected mice from D-gal induced informatory aging by increasing the activity of the antioxidant enzyme, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), inhibiting D-gal-induced NF-κB upregulation, and increasing PPARs expression in the brain and gut. The findings indicated that PPC has favorable anti-inflammatory and anti-aging properties, and could be useful in the treatment of acute inflammation and senescence diseases.
Keywords: Chlorella pyrenoidosa; NF-κB; PPARs; anti-aging; anti-inflammation; pigment–protein complex.