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Kunimasa Morita,¹ Masahiro Ogata,² and Takashi Hasegawa²

¹Fukuoka Institute of Health and Environmental Sciences, Dazaifu City, Japan; ²Research Laboratories, Chlorella Industry Co., Ltd., Chikugo City, Japan

Abstract

We investigated the effects of chlorophyll derived from Chlorella on gastrointestinal absorption of seven types of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin (PCDD) and 10 types of polychlorinated dibenzofuran (PCDF) in Wistar rats. Twenty-eight rats were randomly distributed into seven groups (n = 4) . After overnight food deprivation, rats were given 4 g of the basal diet or 4 g of the chlorophyll diet containing 0.01-0.5% chlorophyll one time on day 1 ; each diet also contained 0.2 mL PCDD and PCDF standard solutions. The amounts of fecal excretion of PCDD and PCDF congeners from days 1 to 5 in the group fed 0.01% chlorophyll were 64.8% for 1,2,3,7,8-pentaCDD, 78.6% for 1,2,3,4,7,8-hexaCDD, 73.5% for 1,2,3,6,7,8-hexaCDD, 58.5% for 1,2,3,7,8,9-hexaCDD, 33.3% for 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-heptaCDD, 85.7% for 1,2,3,7,8-pentaCDF, 77.3% for 2,3,4,7,8-pentaCDF, 88.6% for 1,2,3,4,7,8-hexaCDF, 78.0% for 1,2,3,6,7,8-hexaCDF, 62.5% for 1,2,3,7,8,9-hexaCDF, 84.1% for 2,3,4,6,7,8-hexaCDF, 41.7% for 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-heptaCDF, and 40.0% for 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-heptaCDF greater (p < 0.01) than those of the control group, respectively. The fecal excretion of PCDD and PCDF congeners was remarkably increased along with the increasing dietary chlorophyll. The amounts of PCDD and PCDF congeners in rats on day 5 administered dioxin mixtures were lower in the 0.01% chlorophyll group than in the control group, ranging from 3.5 to 50.0% for PCDD congeners and from 3.7 to 41.7% lower for PCDF congeners, except for 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzofuran. The amount of PCDD and PCDF congeners in rats was remarkably decreased along with the increasing dietary chlorophyll. These findings suggest that chlorophyll is effective for preventing dioxin absorption via foods. Key words: Chlorella, chlorophyll, dioxin, polychlorinated dibenzofurans, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins rats. Environ Health Perspect 109:289-294 (2001) . [Online 2 March 2001]

http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2001/109p289-294morita/ abstract.html

Address correspondence to T. Hasegawa, Research Laboratories, Chlorella Industry Co., Ltd., 1343 Hisatomi, Chikugo City, Fukuoka 833-0056, Japan. Telephone: +81-942-52-2191 (ext. 24) . Fax: +81-942-51-1266. E-mail: hasegawa@chlorella.co.jp

This study was supported by grants to K. Morita from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in Japan.

Received 5 July 2000 ; accepted 24 October 2000.