Probiotic foods and their impact on biomarkers of inflammation in cardiometabolic diseases: a systematic review

Abstract

Abstract: 

Several scientific studies have shown contradictory results regarding the effect of probiotic supplementation on the inhibition of pro-inflammatory cytokines and the improvement of the clinical nutritional profile in people with cardiometabolic diseases.

This research aimed to analyze the relationship between the intake of probiotic foods and supplements with probiotics and inflammation markers in cardiometabolic diseases in adults, through a systematic review, during the period between 2015 and 2020.

The systematic review was carried out according to the Cochrane recommendations and the GRADE guidelines; different databases such as Pubmed, Oxford and BVS were used. Three reviewers participated in this process. Papers that did not meet the quality of evidence criteria were excluded: risk of bias, imprecise results, inconsistent results, problems of applicability of the evidence, and the existence of publication bias. To control bias, the checklist proposed by Downs and Black was used. Of the 859 articles identified, 17 met the inclusion requirements. Controlled trials and randomized clinical trials were considered among the eligibility criteria.

Of all the studies that analyzed the effect of probiotics (bifidobacterium, lactobacillus, lactococcus, acetobacter) on the biomarkers of inflammation in cardiometabolic diseases, a decrease in interleukin concentrations (IL-1, IL-6, IL- 8 and IL-12) in eight of them and the same happened with TNFα; in the case of INFγ, it was decreased in one of the three studies that analyzed it; while, the consumption of probiotics caused a decrease in the concentration of hsCRP, an effect that was observed in three of six studies. According to the checklist proposed by Downs and Black, 88% of the included studies correspond to high quality and 12% to intermediate quality.

The intake of probiotics presented diverse results, being necessary more studies to identify the effect of the strains, doses and duration, in order to implement more consistent nutritional clinical treatments with the aim of improving the levels of inflammation biomarkers and risk factors in people with cardiometabolic diseases.