Might patients with immune-related diseases benefit from probiotics?

Expression of Concern: Clinical and metabolic response to probiotic supplementation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled trial

“…Therefore, this study is the first that simultaneously has examined the effects of multispecies probiotic (6 9 10 9 CFU/g) on DAS-28 and biomarkers, which seem to be much more important in the development of RA. 13,14 All of this evidence could help to alleviate the symptoms of RA by probiotics. 28 Our study demonstrated that probiotic supplementation for 8 weeks among patients with RA led to improved DAS-28 compared with the placebo.…”

“…bulgaricus decreased the clinical severity in arthritic changes. 12 Probiotic intake may improve clinical and metabolic status in RA patients through its anti-inflammatory effects both locally in the gut and systemically, 13,14 through increased production of bacteriocins 15 and short chain fatty acids (SCFA) such as butyric acid, 16 down-regulating inflammation and blocking suppression of glucose transporter type 4. 9 However, few studies have assessed the effect of probiotics supplementation on Disease Activity Score of 28 joints (DAS-28), biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress, and also results are conflicting.…”

Formulation and Design of Probiotic Supplements for Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients

“…22 However, when probiotic supplements are to be administered to patients with immune-related disorders, it is crucial to choose a specific single or combination of bacterial strains with particular immune-regulatory properties. 5 To the best of our knowledge, no probiotic supplements have been claimed to be efficacious for RA subjects, thus far. L. casei being a species of genus Lactobacillus, is among the few known lactic acid bacteria (LAB) that are used as probiotics.…”

“…Deciding on an appropriate dosage is as critical, to obtain the expected benefits for probiotics. [3][4][5] RA is an autoimmune inflammatory disease which predominantly affects the joints and causes severe pain and a great extent of disability. 6 Results from observational and animal studies have suggested a causal…”

Folate bio-fortification of yoghurt and fermented milk: a review

“…For a strain to be determined as probiotic, it should preferably be of human origin, have a status generally recognized as safe (GRAS), be able to survive through the gastrointestinal tract, adhere to the human intestinal cells, be antagonistic towards potential pathogenic microorganisms and have several health benefit effects on the host (Collins et al 1998;Iyer et al 2010). Probiotic bacteria have a positive effect on the immune system and intestinal microbiotic composition and functions and have been claimed to be therapeutic or preventive against infections and several autoimmune and atopic diseases (Collins et al 1998;Homayouni Rad et al 2013a, 2013bRossi et al 2011;Schrezenmeir and de Vrese 2001;Singh et al 2011).…”