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. 2023 Nov 5;15(21):4690.
doi: 10.3390/nu15214690.

The Effects of Oral Probiotics on Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM): A Clinical Trial Systematic Literature Review

Simon Paquette  1 , Sean C Thomas  1 , Krishnan Venkataraman  1   2 , Vasu D Appanna  2 , Sujeenthar Tharmalingam  1   2   3
Affiliations

The Effects of Oral Probiotics on Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM): A Clinical Trial Systematic Literature Review

Simon Paquette et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) remains a global health concern. Emerging clinical trial (CT) evidence suggests that probiotic intervention may promote a healthy gut microbiome in individuals with T2DM, thereby improving management of the disease. This systematic literature review summarizes thirty-three CTs investigating the use of oral probiotics for the management of T2DM. Here, twenty-one studies (64%) demonstrated an improvement in at least one glycemic parameter, while fifteen studies (45%) showed an improvement in at least one lipid parameter. However, no article in this review was able to establish a uniform decrease in glycemic, lipid, or blood pressure profiles. The lack of consistency across the studies may be attributed to differences in probiotic composition, duration of probiotic consumption, and probiotic dose. An interesting finding of this literature review was the beneficial trend of metformin and probiotic co-administration. Here, patients with T2DM taking metformin demonstrated enhanced glycemic control via the co-administration of probiotics. Taken together, the overall positive findings reported across the studies in combination with minimal adverse effects constitute ground for further quality CTs. This review provides recommendations for future CTs that may address the shortcomings of the current studies and help to extract useful data from future investigations of the use of probiotics in T2DM management.

Keywords: HbA1c; T2DM; glucose; glycemic index; gut health; lipids; metformin; microbiome; microbiota; probiotic; type 2 diabetes mellitus.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of identified citations and included clinical trials.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Summary of key information identified from clinical trials assessing the effects of probiotics on T2DM. Based on the information summarized in this review, several recommendations are proposed to address the shortcomings of the current studies and help to extract useful data for future CTs investigating the use of probiotics in T2DM management.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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