Effects of probiotic therapy on serum inflammatory markers: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the clinical use of probiotic therapy in any serum inflammatory markers in individuals with any inflammatory process. A systematic review with meta-analysis approach was used to analyze randomized controlled trials (RCTs) studies from PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane Library databases. The most commonly used probiotic bacteria were those of the genus Lactobacillus spp. and the treatment time of the studies ranged from 1 to 52 weeks. Six studies reported an increase on anti-inflammatory markers and forty-five studies reported a decrease on pro-inflammatory markers. Meta-analysis indicated that probiotics reduced Tumor Necrosis Factor-α [standardized mean difference (SMD): −10.65; 95% CI: −25.20, −6.10; I 2  = 100%; P  2  = 98%; P