Effect of 25 weeks probiotic supplementation on immune function of HIV patients

Probiotic/prebiotic supplementation of antiretrovirals improves gastrointestinal immunity in SIV-infected macaques

“…PP provide an exciting adjunctive therapeutic approach for HIV infection, as they are well tolerated and inexpensive (7,22). While additional studies will be required to extend the present findings to HIV infection, consistent with previous studies (7,8,22), our data suggest that PP treatment may be a useful approach to supplementing ARV therapy in HIV-infected individuals to mitigate residual GI inflammation and damage, thereby potentially having a beneficial impact on morbidity and mortality.…”

“…The increased mortality in ARV-treated, HIV-infected individuals is associated with inflammation and cardiovascular disease, which are in turn associated with GI mucosal damage and microbial translocation that do not resolve completely with ARV treatment (1,3). Probiotic and prebiotic supplements have improved outcomes in several diseases characterized by GI tract inflammation (4)(5)(6), and probiotics have safely been administered to HIV-infected individuals resulting in modest improvements in CD4 + T cell counts and clinical GI symptoms even without ARV treatment (7)(8)(9). We therefore studied potential benefits of synbiotic supplementation of ARVs in SIV-infected Asian macaques.…”

A pilot study on the effects of probiotic supplementation on neuropsychological performance and microRNA‐29a‐c levels in antiretroviral‐treated HIV‐1‐infected patients

“…This dosage was well-tolerated throughout the course of the study and the potential side effects which had been previously reported for other and different formulations were not reported here (Anukam, Osazuwa, Osadolor, Bruce, & Reid, 2008;Haghighat & Crum-Cianflone, 2015;Hummelen et al, 2011). We found that fecal Bifidobacteria spp increased in all patients compared T A B L E 1 Results of neuropsychological test administered before and after 6 months of probiotic supplementation AAT (Aachen Aphasia Test) 9.00 (9.00-9.00) 9.00 (9.00-9.00) 1.0000 Significantly different values are highlighted in bold.…”

Description of a Novel Probiotic Concept: Implications for the Modulation of the Immune System

“…These very encouraging results, however, were not replicated when the same identical probiotic strain (Lactobacillus rhamnosus) was administered as an encapsulated probiotic and not as a component of a yogurt. In other words, the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus appeared to stimulate the immune system only when it was a component of a yogurt, thus lending credit to the hypothesis that it was the yogurt with its array of microbes and metabolites produced by the microbes and not the single Lactobacillus rhamnosus strain, responsible for the immune stimulating effect (Hummelen et al, 2011). Such a striking difference could be explained considering that during the fermentation of milk by the probiotic strains that compose a yogurt, several newly formed peptides are generated and it is likely that the overall immune-reconstituting effect is due to a combination of microbes and the products of their metabolism rather than to the microbes alone (Ebner et al, 2015).…”

“…Such a striking difference could be explained considering that during the fermentation of milk by the probiotic strains that compose a yogurt, several newly formed peptides are generated and it is likely that the overall immune-reconstituting effect is due to a combination of microbes and the products of their metabolism rather than to the microbes alone (Ebner et al, 2015). Consistent with this interpretation, the Authors concluded that: "The inefficacy of the probiotic strains in preserving the immune function may be the result of using encapsulated probiotics versus the use of probiotic yogurt with the same probiotic strains in previous studies …" (Hummelen et al, 2011).…”