Long‐term use of probiotics for the management of office and ambulatory blood pressure: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized, controlled trials

Abstract

Previous studies showed a controversial result on the relationship between probiotics treatment duration and blood pressure (BP). The present meta‐analysis is performed to summarize the effects of long‐term (≥8 weeks) use of probiotics on office and ambulatory BP using combined evidence from randomized, controlled trials. We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane library, and the http://clinicaltrials.gov till January, 2021 to identify eligible articles. Primary outcomes were changes in office BP. In the presence of heterogeneity, a random‐effects model was used to calculate the combined treatment effect. Begg's funnel plots and Egger's regression test were used to assess the publication bias. Meta‐analysis of 26 trials in 1624 participants demonstrated that probiotic consumption significantly decreased office systolic BP by 2.18 mmHg (95% confidence interval [CI], −3.41 to −0.94 mmHg) and diastolic BP by 1.07 mmHg (95% CI, −1.72 to −0.41 mmHg). The analysis on ambulatory BP from three trials showed a similar reduction by −2.35/−1.61 mmHg (p ≤ .052). Subgroup analysis in hypertensive and diabetic patients showed a significant reduction in systolic and diastolic BP (p ≤ .02). The reductions in diabetic and hypertensive patients were comparatively larger than nondiabetic and normotensive patients (p ≥ .052). With the increase of age, baseline body mass index (BMI), treatment duration, and systolic BP, the effects of probiotics on BP did not increase significantly (ptrend ≥ .18). The present meta‐analysis suggests a beneficial effect of probiotics on BP by a modest degree, especially in the diabetes mellitus and hypertension. Prolonging the treatment duration could not improve the antihypertensive effect.

Effect of cardamom consumption on inflammation and blood pressure in adults: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized clinical trials

“…However, chronic inflammation leads to conditions such as diabetes (Zatterale et al., 2020 ), rheumatoid arthritis (Moosavian et al., 2020 ), neurodegenerative diseases (Zhang et al., 2020 ), cancer (Murata, 2018 ), and cardiovascular diseases (Asbaghi et al., 2021 ; Soysal et al., 2020 ). Studies have shown that inflammation, along with an unhealthy diet and lifestyle, as well as disorders in the peripheral vascular and sympathetic nervous system, may contribute to high blood pressure (Zhao et al., 2023 ). Elettaria cardamomum, also known as green cardamom, is a member of the Zingiberaceae family.…”