Effects of Probiotics on Gut Microbiota in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Clinical Trial.

Background/aims: Several clinical trials have revealed various advantages for probiotics in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of this study was to further investigate the effects of probiotic yogurt consumption on gut microbiota in patients with this disease.

Methods: A total of 305 participants were divided into three groups; group A (IBD patients receiving probiotic yogurt; n=105), group B (IBD patients receiving placebo; n=105), and control group (healthy individuals receiving probiotic yogurt; n=95).

Probiotic yogurt Affects Pro- and Anti-inflammatory Factors in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an irregular response of immune system accompanied with different inflammatory manifestations including alterations in cytokines. Probiotics are non-pathogenic organisms with probable effects in various conditions such as inflammation. The present study hypothesized whether oral intake of bifidobacterium and lactobacillus in form of probiotic yogurt may represent an immunomodulatory effect in IBD patients.

Efficacy of folate and vitamin B12 in lowering homocysteine concentrations in hemodialysis patients.

To evaluate the efficacy of supplementation with high dose folic acid with and without vitamin B 12 in lowering plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) concentrations in hemodialysis (HD) patients, we studied 36 HD patients randomized into four groups according to the received therapeutic regimen: group I (only folic acid (FA), 5 mg/day), group II (FA, 5 mg/day + vitamin B 12 , 1 mg/day) group III (only FA, 15 mg/day), group IV (FA, 15 mg/day, vitamin B 12 , 1 mg/day) for a period of 8 weeks. Plasma tHcy and serum FA and vitamin B 12 levels were measured at baseline and after the supplementation period. Dietary intakes were assessed during the study period.