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Inflammation generally gets a bad rap. With all that pain and heat and swelling and such, it is tempting to enthusiastically declare inflammation as something that should be unconditionally avoided. While persistent, uncontrolled inflammation often does contribute to a decline in health and tissue function, transient inflammation (such as that resulting from exercise) may be essential to appropriate adaptation of tissues to stress. So, before we announce a universal ban on the ouch factor, let’s take a closer look at inflammation, and explore how a nutraceutical might promote the “good” while inhibiting the “bad.”

Let’s start at the end. A classic example of “bad” inflammation is osteoarthritis (OA), a condition in which the quality and functionality of cartilage tissue progressively worsens over time. OA is associated with pain, swelling, and reduced mobility that generally worsens over time. The funky physiology that drives OA requires an eclectic combination of reactive oxygen species, cytokines, and eicosanoids. Each of these categories of compounds uniquely contributes to a steady deterioration of cartilage structure. Thus, a massive swath of scientific energy is aimed at squashing production of these compounds in an effort to halt progression of osteoarthritis. But what if the presence of these compounds isn’t the problem? What if the problem is actually the absence of something else?

To entertain this question, we need to look at inflammation that is “good.” In a sense, we need to look at well-behaved inflammation that comes in at the right time and knows when to leave. The definitive example here is inflammation resulting from exercise. Any of us who know the struggle of running frantically for the bus after lingering too long with the hairdryer can attest to the inflammation resulting from exercise! The difference here compared with the inflammation associated with OA is that this inflammation is transient. It moves in, breaks down tissue damaged from the exercise bout, helps replace it with new healthy (and often stronger) tissue, and moves out. The physiological players in this inflammation scenario are the same as those described for OA, but the difference is that this type of inflammation proceeds to resolution because of a group of compounds called “resolvins.” Without resolvins, inflammation persists and can become damaging. But without the inflammation compounds, we don’t get the improvements in tissues from exercise. Indeed, if we apply the same strategies to inhibit inflammation from exercise as we do with OA (for example, with phenylbutazone, a.k.a. “bute”), what we find is that tissues do not adapt properly to the stress of exercise. Muscles take longer to become stronger, extraction of oxygen from muscles takes longer to improve in efficiency, and bones take longer to increase density. In short, the training effect is delayed. 

What if we could feed something to our horses that would reduce the damaging, catabolic effects of inflammation without interfering with the healthful, adaptive effects?

In a search for such a unicorn, Herbs for Horses has embarked upon another groundbreaking research study at the University of Guelph to see if spirulina can help reduce “bad” inflammation without impairing “good” inflammation. Spirulina (also known as Blue-Green Algae) is a potent antioxidant, and there is evidence that it slows progression of OA without messing with post-exercise recovery and adaptation. In this study, 16 horses were separated into one of two groups; one group received spirulina (30g/day) for 30 days, while the other group received a diet without spirulina. Both groups of horses underwent an exercise test on Day 0 and 30. For horses receiving spirulina, the exercise bout resulted in significantly higher hemoglobin and hematocrit (important for oxygen delivery to muscles), prostaglandin E2 (important for promoting muscle protein synthesis), and lower creatine kinase (a marker of muscle damage) and nitric oxide (reactive oxygen species) in blood. Importantly, spirulina also increased resolvins in synovial fluid, suggesting a protective role against development of OA. These data provide exciting new evidence for the ability of spirulina to improve the inflammatory response to exercise, reduce resulting muscle damage, improve oxygen delivery, and facilitate resolution of post-exercise inflammation in joints. 

These studies are currently under review for publication in the scientific literature and will be available in Fall 2024.  

Learn more about Spirulina (Blue Green Algae).

For more information, visit the Herbs for Horses website.

Photo: Brett Holmes Photography