A randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled pilot study of probiotics in active rheumatoid arthritis.

Background: To examine the effect of probiotics as adjunctive therapy for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). A sample size of 30 subjects was calculated to determine a moderate effect.

Material/methods: A three month double-blind, placebo-controlled study was performed using probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 and Lactobacillus reuteri RC-14 capsules administered orally.