The effects of non-viableLactobacilluson immune function in the elderly: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study

Abstract

Forty-two participants in two nursing homes who were ≥65 years of age were randomised to receive a jelly containing 10 billion heat-killed Lactobacillus paracasei MCC1849 cells (LP group) or a placebo jelly without lactobacilli (placebo group) for 6 weeks. Three weeks after beginning jelly intake, all subjects received an influenza vaccination (A/H1N1, A/H2N3 and B). Blood samples were collected before and after the treatment period. There were no significant differences in immune parameters, including in antibody responses against the vaccination, between the groups. In the subgroup of the oldest old, defined as ≥85 years of age (n = 27), the antibody responses to the A/H1N1 and B antigens, which were impaired in the placebo group, were improved in the LP group. No significant effects of non-viable L. paracasei MCC1849 were observed in the elderly. A possible beneficial effect in the oldest old should be explored in further large-scale studies.

Effect of probiotics and prebiotics on immune response to influenza vaccination in adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

“…Meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager (RevMan) [ Figure 1 shows the search process and outcomes. A total of 19 publications with 20 RCTs were included for our systematic review [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39]. Two trials (a pilot and a confirmatory study) with different patient numbers, treatment protocols, and years of study were published together [35].…”

“…Two trials (a pilot and a confirmatory study) with different patient numbers, treatment protocols, and years of study were published together [35]. Thirteen trials focused on probiotics [22,[26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36], while the other six RCTs focused on prebiotics [23][24][25][37][38][39]. Only one study concentrated on synbiotics [21].…”

“…These studies were conducted worldwide, with six trials in Japan [22][23][24]27,28,33], three trials in the USA [32,37,38], two studies each in Spain [31,36] and the UK [21,25], one publication in France [35], and one trial each in Australia [34], Belgium [29], Italy [30], Germany and Denmark [26], and Chile [39]. Seven RCTs enrolled healthy adults or older adults [21,25,26,30,32,34,36], and two trials enrolled healthy older adults [38,39].…”

“…Seven RCTs enrolled healthy adults or older adults [21,25,26,30,32,34,36], and two trials enrolled healthy older adults [38,39]. In another eleven trials, subjects living in hospitals, nursing homes, or long-term care facilities were enrolled [22][23][24][27][28][29]31,33,35,37]. Participants fed by enteral tube or percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy were enrolled in three studies conducted in Japan [23,24,27].…”

“…Ten RCTs used Lactobacillus [22,26,[28][29][30][31][32][34][35][36]] as a probiotic. Four studies [21,27,30,33] selected Bifidobacterium.…”