METHODS: 4T1 cancer cells were treated with kefir water in vitro to assess its antimigration and anti-invasion effects. BALB/c mice were injected with 4T1 cancer cells and treated orally with kefir water for 28 days.
RESULTS: Kefir water was cytotoxic toward 4T1 cells at IC50 (half-maximal inhibitory concentration) of 12.5 and 8.33 mg/mL for 48 and 72 hours, respectively. A significant reduction in tumor size and weight (0.9132 ± 0.219 g) and a substantial increase in helper T cells (5-fold) and cytotoxic T cells (7-fold) were observed in the kefir water-treated group. Proinflammatory and proangiogenic markers were significantly reduced in the kefir water-treated group.
CONCLUSIONS: Kefir water inhibited tumor proliferation in vitro and in vivo mainly through cancer cell apoptosis, immunomodulation by stimulating T helper cells and cytotoxic T cells, and anti-inflammatory, antimetastatic, and antiangiogenesis effects. This study brought out the potential of the probiotic beverage kefir water in cancer treatment.
Methods: We searched for articles from PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, Web of Science, Scopus, and CINAHL plus. From 2002 to 2015, 31 articles meeting the inclusion criteria were identified in the literature. Risk of bias and heterogeneity were assessed. Network meta-analyses (NMA) were performed using random-effects modeling to obtain estimates for study outcomes. Risk ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated. We then ranked the comparative effects of all regimens with the surface under the cumulative ranking (SUCRA) probabilities.
Results: A total of 2,952 patients were included. We found that synbiotic therapy was the best regimen in reducing surgical site infection (SSI) (RR = 0.28; 95% CI, 0.12-0.64) in adult surgical patients. Synbiotic therapy was also the best intervention to reduce pneumonia (RR = 0.28; 95% CI, 0.09-0.90), sepsis (RR = 0.09; 95% CI, 0.01-0.94), hospital stay (mean = 9.66 days, 95% CI, 7.60-11.72), and duration of antibiotic administration (mean = 5.61 days, 95% CI, 3.19-8.02). No regimen significantly reduced mortality.
Conclusions: This network meta-analysis suggests that synbiotic therapy is the first rank to reduce SSI, pneumonia, sepsis, hospital stay, and antibiotic use. Surgeons should consider the use of synbiotics as an adjunctive therapy to prevent POCs among adult surgical patients. Increasing use of synbiotics may help to reduce the use of antibiotics and multidrug resistance.
DESIGN: A randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, controlled clinical trial.
SETTING: Diabetes clinic of a teaching hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
PARTICIPANTS: A total of 136 participants with type 2 diabetes, aged 30-70 years, were recruited and randomly assigned to receive either probiotics (n = 68) or placebo (n = 68) for 12 weeks.
OUTCOMES: Primary outcomes were glycemic control-related parameters, and secondary outcomes were anthropomorphic variables, lipid profile, blood pressure and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. The Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium quantities were measured before and after intervention as an indicator of successful passage of the supplement through gastrointestinal tract.
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis was performed on all participants, while per-protocol (PP) analysis was performed on those participants who had successfully completed the trial with good compliance rate.
RESULTS: With respect to primary outcomes, glycated hemoglobin decreased by 0.14 % in the probiotics and increased by 0.02 % in the placebo group in PP analysis (p
METHODS: Forty-one healthy sedentary males were recruited and randomised into four groups: sedentary control with placebo (C), probiotics (P), circuit training with placebo (Ex), and circuit training with probiotics (PEx) groups. Participants in the Ex and PEx groups performed a progressive load of circuit training at 3 times/week for 12 weeks. Each circuit comprised 10 exercises with work to rest ratio of 1:2. Participants consumed either multi-strain probiotics or placebo twice daily for 12 weeks. Body height and weight, blood pressure, resting heart rate, saliva and blood samples were collected at pre- and post-tests.
RESULTS: Saliva flow rate and salivary IgA, α-amylase, lactoferrin and lysozyme responses were not significantly different (P>0.05) between groups and also between pre- and post-test within each group. Similarly, total leukocytes, total lymphocytes, T lymphocytes, T-helper, T-cytotoxic, B lymphocytes, and natural killer cells counts were not significantly affected (P>0.05) by the probiotics and/or circuit training. However, circuit training significantly increased (P<0.05) immune cells count at post-test as compared to pre-test. Yet, a combination of circuit training and probiotics showed no significant (P>0.05) effects on immune cells count.
CONCLUSIONS: This study did not provide enough support for the positive effects of probiotics on immune responses among sedentary young males following resistance exercise. However, 12 weeks of circuit training enhanced immune cells count.