The effects of probiotic supplementation on markers of blood lipids, and blood pressure in patients with prediabetes: a randomized clinical trial.
BACKGROUND
Prediabetes is a high-risk condition for type 2 diabetes mellitus. The growing prevalence of diabetes emphasizes on the necessity of concentrating on various strategies to prediabetes prevention and management. Probiotics as a group of functional foods might exert antidiabetic effects. This study aimed to assess the effects of probiotic administration on blood lipid profile and blood pressure in patients with prediabetes.


METHODS
This randomized controlled trial consisted of 60 prediabetic patients, aged 25-65 years old, that were randomly assigned to the intervention (receiving 500 mg probiotic capsules, n = 30) or control group (receiving placebo, n = 30) for 8-week period. Demographic and anthropometric data were collected at baseline. Blood samples were collected at baseline and after 8 weeks for biochemical measurements. Blood pressure was measured at the baseline an after 8 weeks of intervention. Data regarding dietary intakes and physical activity were also collected during the study. We used SPSS software version 16 (SPSS Inc. Chicago, USA) for data analyzing.


RESULTS
Probiotic supplementation did not contribute to significant changes in total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol, Triglycerides (TG), TG/LDL and LDL/HDL ratios, after 8 weeks. After adjusting for potential confounders, HDL-cholesterol reduced significantly in the placebo group compared with probiotic group. Percent change in systolic blood pressure was significantly different in the probiotic group in comparison with a placebo group (-3.10 ± 2.22 vs. 3.24 ± 1.96, P = 0.01), although this significance did not exist anymore after adjusting for confounders (P > 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Our study showed that probiotics did not have significant effects on lipid markers although they had positive effects on systolic blood pressure.
Department of Community Nutrition, Food Security Research Centre, School of Nutrition and Food Science, Isfahan University of Medical sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Sepideh
S
Mahboobi
Endocrine and Metabolism Research Centre, Isfahan University of Medical sciences, Isfaha, Iran.
Bijan
B
Iraj
Department of Community Nutrition, Food Security Research Centre, School of Nutrition and Food Science, Isfahan University of Medical sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Zahra
Z
Maghsoudi
Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical sciences, Isfahan, Iran ; Endocrine and Metabolism Research Centre, Isfahan University of Medical sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Awat
A
Feizi
Department of Community Nutrition, Food Security Research Centre, School of Nutrition and Food Science, Isfahan University of Medical sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Reza
R
Ghiasvand
Department of Community Nutrition, Food Security Research Centre, School of Nutrition and Food Science, Isfahan University of Medical sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Gholamreza
G
Askari
Department of Community Nutrition, School of Nutrition and Food Science, Shiraz University of Medical sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
Najmeh
N
Maayeshi
Blood pressure; lipid; prediabetes; probiotic