The effect of probiotic saccharomyces boulardi on anthropometric indecies, functional status, pain and quality of life and serum indices of inflammation and oxidative stress in overweight and obese patients with knee osteoarthritis

Abstract

Recently, the use of probiotics to reduce inflammatory factors and oxidative stress biomarkers has received much attention. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of Saccharomyces bulardii probiotic supplement for 12 weeks in comparison with placebo in overweight and obese patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. Methods: The present study was a double-blind randomized clinical trial on 70 patients with mild to moderate osteoarthritis of the knee. The subjects were assigned to two groups of probiotics (n=35) and placebo (n=35) and were treated with one BioDigest capsule containing 250 mg of Saccharomyces bulardii (1010 CFU) per day or one placebo capsule per day for 12 weeks, respectively. Before and after the intervention, the pain intensity was measured by the visual analogue scale, the fuctional dysability of patients was measured using the Persian version of the WOMAC questionnaire (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index) and quality of life was measured by the 36-SF questionnaire. Blood samples were taken from patients before and after the study to examine serum indices. Results: The concentration of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and Malondialdehyde (MDA) were significantly reduced in the probiotic group compared to the placebo group (-2.72±1.44 vs. -0.80 ± 1.37 μg/ml, p <0.001 and -0.81±1.38 vs. increased significantly in the probiotic group compared to the placebo group (0.47±1.21 vs. -0.13±0.78 nmol/l and p = 0.002). Visual analogue scale was significantly reduced in the probiotic group compared with placebo (-1.31±0.92 vs. -0.90±0.82 and p = 0.022). The functional disability according to WOMAC total was significantly reduced in the probiotic group compared to placebo (-9.99±9.18 vs. -5.79±3.56 and p <0.001). Numerical values of quality of life subscales including physical function, energy / fatigue, emotional well-being, physical health, mental health, emotional role limitations and pain increased significantly in the probiotic group compared to placebo (all p<0.05).