Effects of synbiotic food consumption on serum minerals,liver enzymes,and blood pressure in patients with type 2 diabetes: A double-blind randomized cross-over controlled clinical trial

Background: this research was to examine the effects of synbiotic intake on minerals,liver enzymes,and blood pressure in patients with type 2 diabetes (t2d). methods: this randomized,cross-over clinical trial was performed among 62 diabetic patients. persons were randomly assigned to intake either a synbiotic (n = 62) or a control food (n = 62) for 6 weeks. a 3-week washout period was applied following which persons were crossed over to the alternate intervention arm for an additional 6 weeks. the synbiotic was consisted of lactobacillus sporogenes (1 × 107 cfu),0.04 g inulin (hpx) as prebiotic. persons were asked to consume the synbiotic and control foods 27 g a day. blood pressure was measured,and blood samples were taken at baseline and after 6-week intervention to assess calcium,magnesium,iron,alkaline phosphatase,aspartate aminotransferase,alanine aminotransferase,and total bilirubin. results: the consumption of a synbiotic food,compared to the control food,resulted in a significant rise of calcium (0.66 vs. −0.14 mg/dl,p = 0.03) and iron (5.06 vs. −9.98 mg/dl,p = 0.03). the decrease of total bilirubin (0.08 vs. −0.04 mg/dl; p = 0.009) was also seen in the synbiotic group compared with the control group. conclusions: overall,synbiotic in t2d patients had beneficial effects on calcium,iron,and total bilirubin concentrations. © 2017 international journal of preventive medicine.