Probiotic supplementation and biomarkers in patients with cardiovascular risk: a systematic review
Abstract
The high prevalence of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) entails considerable costs for public health agencies globally. Given the need for alternative means of preventing and treating CVDs and the possibility that probiotic supplementation may be a low-cost intervention in factors related to CVD risk factors, the present systematic review study therefore aims to evaluate the effect of probiotic supplementation in modulating risk markers for cardiovascular diseases. This study followed the guidelines outlined in the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA). The literature search was carried out in the bibliographic databases Pubmed, Scopus, Web of Science and Cochrane Controlled Register of Trials with studies published until July 30, 2021. Three thousand two hundred and fifty-two (3,252) studies were initially identified and after selection, 14 randomized clinical trials were included in the analysis. Much of the evidence suggests a positive effect (absence of evidence of negative effects) of probiotic supplementation on the composition of the lipid profile and inflammatory markers, as well as positive effects on indirect factors related to CVDs, such as microbiota composition, anthropometry and glycemic metabolism. We hypothesize that probiotic supplementation has a beneficial asymmetry and may have a complementary therapeutic effect on CVDs, with beneficial effects on the lipid and metabolic profile, in addition to positively affecting inflammatory markers. The heterogeneity of the effects of strains prevents definitive conclusions and guides the need for more robust evidence on the specific role of each probiotic strain in the context of cardiovascular diseases.
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