The Effects of Synbiotic on BMI, Metabolic and Inflammatory Biomarkers and Appetite in Metabolic Syndrome: A Triple Blind RCT

It has recently been shown that metabolic syndrome is associated with gut dysbiosis. The gut microbiota may be the main target for prevention or treatment of metabolic syndrome. We investigated the effects of synbiotic supplementation on metabolic syndrome. In this triple blinded clinical trial, 46 Iranian patients with metabolic syndrome from both sexes aged 25-70 year who fulfilled inclusion criteria were randomly categorized to receive either the synbiotic or a placebo capsule, twice a day for three months, plus a weight loss diet using stratified random sampling based on BMI. Each synbiotic capsule consisted of 7 strains probiotic bacteria (2 × 108) plus fructooligosacharide as a prebiotic. Anthropometric measurements and biochemical tests were assessed at baseline and at the end of week 12 for FBS, insulin, lipid profile, hs-CRP, IL-6, PYY and GLP-1. The mean changes of weight, BMI, FBS, insulin, HOMA-IR and GLP-1 between two groups was statistically significant (p<0.001). Furthermore, PYY increased in synbiotic group significantly (p ≤ 0.05). The trend of weight loss in the synbiotic group was significant until the end of study (P<0.001) while it was stopped at the week 6 in the placebo group. Treatment with synbiotic may improve the status of BMI, FBS, Insulin resistance, HOMA-IR, GLP-1 and PYY in patients with metabolic syndrome