The potential protective effects of probiotics, prebiotics, or yogurt on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Results from NHANES 2007–2012

Abstract

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) ranks among the world's three leading causes of mortality, owing to the increased smokers and aging populations. Previous studies showed that gut microbiota could help to ameliorate respiratory diseases. Hence, the current study aims to evaluate the effects of probiotics, prebiotics, or yogurt on the prevalence of COPD. A cross‐sectional study was carried out by investigating data from three consecutive NHANES cycles during 2007–2012. Individuals who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were studied. Prescription medications and dietary were reviewed to identify the intake of probiotics, prebiotics, or yogurt. The included participants were then divided into two groups depending on their consumption of probiotics, prebiotics, or yogurt. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to analyze the effects of probiotics, prebiotics, or yogurt consumption on the prevalence of COPD. Out of 7486 enrolled participants, 1656 (22.12%) were categorized into the probiotics, prebiotics, or yogurt intake group. This study indicated that consuming probiotics, prebiotics, or yogurt were correlated with a lower incidence of COPD, even when factors like gender, age, education, moderate‐intensity activities, vigorous activities, hypertension, asthma, diabetes, smoking and alcohol consumption were accounted for (Model 1: OR, 0.68, 95% CI, 0.53–0.87; Model 2: OR, 0.77, 95% CI, 0.59–0.99; Model 3: OR, 0.75, 95% CI, 0.57–0.98). The findings reveal that consuming probiotics, prebiotics, or yogurt might play a beneficial role in preventing COPD.