Skip to main content

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Nutr.
Sec. Clinical Nutrition
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1434613

Efficacy of probiotics/synbiotics supplementation in patients with chronic kidney disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Provisionally accepted
Chang Liu Chang Liu Letian Yang Letian Yang Wei Wei Wei Wei Ping Fu Ping Fu *
  • West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a serious and steadily growing health problem worldwide. Probiotic and synbiotic supplementation are expected to improve kidney function in CKD patients by altering imbalanced intestinal flora, regulating microbiota metabolites, modulating the brain-gut axis, and reducing inflammation.Our aim is to report the latest and largest pooled analyses and evidence updates to explore whether probiotic and synbiotic have beneficial effects on renal function and general conditions in patients with CKD.We conducted a systematic literature search using PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from inception until December 1, 2023. Eligible literatures were screened according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, data were extracted, and a systematic review and meta-analysis was performed. Measurements included renal function-related markers, inflammatory markers, uremic toxins, lipid metabolism-related markers and electrolytes levels.Twenty-one studies were included. The results showed that probiotic/synbiotic significantly reduced blood urea nitrogen (BUN) (standardized mean difference (SMD), -0.23, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.41, -0.04; P = 0.02, I 2 = 10%) and lowered c-reactive protein level (CRP) (SMD: -0.34; 95% CI: -0.62, -0.07; P = 0.01, I 2 = 37%) in CKD patients, compared with the control group.In summary, probiotic/synbiotic supplementation seems to be effective in improving renal function indices and inflammation indices in CKD patients. Subgroup analyses suggested that longer-term supplementation is more favorable for CKD patients, but there is a high degree of heterogeneity in the results of partial subgroup analyses. The efficacy of probiotic/synbiotic in treating CKD needs to be supported by more evidence from large-scale clinical studies.

    Keywords: probiotic, Synbiotic, Chronic Kidney Disease, Renal function, Metabolism

    Received: 18 May 2024; Accepted: 17 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Liu, Yang, Wei and Fu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Ping Fu, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.