Effect of Probiotics on Primary Hypertension
We conducted a multi-center, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in patients aged 18 to 60 years, with office systolic blood pressure (SBP) of 130 to 160 mmHg and/or office diastolic blood pressure (DBP) of 85 to 100 mmHg, recruited from five clinical centers around China. Eligible patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to the probiotic group or the placebo group, receiving 8 weeks daily intake of the probiotic combination or appearance-identical placebo. The probiotic combination contains 10 strains from Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus, with daily dosage of 1011 CFU in total. All participants and study team members were masked to randomization. The primary outcome was changes in office SBP between baseline and 8 weeks. Metagenomic sequencing was conducted on fecal samples at baseline and 8 weeks to evaluate the gut microbiome alterations.