Author/Authors :
Pourghassem Gargari Bahram نويسنده Faculty of Health and Nutrition , Safaiyan Abdolrasoul نويسنده Department of Statistics and Epidemiology, Faculty of Health and Nutrition, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences , Barzegari Abolfazl نويسنده Research Center of Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. , Khoshbaten Manouchehr نويسنده Liver and Gastrointestinal Diseases Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz , Javadi Leila نويسنده Department of Nutrition, Nutrition Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. Javadi Leila , Ghavami Seyyed-Mostafa نويسنده Department of Radiology, Faculty of Paramedical, Tabriz
University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
Abstract :
Background Oral administration of pro- and prebiotics has recently
been considered as an effective way for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
(NAFLD) recovery. Objectives The current study aimed at evaluating the
effect of supplementation with probiotics and/or prebiotics on liver
function tests in patients with NAFLD. Methods In this double blind,
placebo-control clinical trial, 75 subjects with NAFLD were voluntarily
recruited from May 2013 to March 2014, in Iran. Participants were
randomly assigned to 1 of 4 groups using a block randomization
procedure. Group 1 received probiotic capsules (Bifidobacterium longum
(BL) and Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA): 2 × 107
CFU/day), group 2 received prebiotic inulin high performance (HP): 10
g/day, group 3 received probiotic and the prebiotic, and group 4
received a placebo for 3 months. The sample size was determined on the
basis of a primary outcome of a change in aspartate aminotransferase
(AST) level. Results An intergroup comparison indicated that the AST (P
= 0.006) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (P = 0.04) levels decreased
at the end of the study. Aspartate Aminotransferase (mean difference of
group1 versus placebo with P value of 0.001, group2 versus placebo with
P value of 0.045, group3 versus placebo with P value of 0.015) and ALT
(mean difference of group 1 versus placebo with P value of 0.009, group
2 versus placebo with P value of 0.041, and group 3 versus placebo with
P value of 0.046) serum levels decreased significantly in all of the
intervention groups compared to the placebo. The grade of fatty liver in
group 1 (P of 0.027, and number needed to treat (NNT) = 3) and group 3
(P = 0.019 and NNT = 3) decreased compared to the placebo group with no
significant changes in group 2. Conclusions Supplementation with
probiotics and/or prebiotics improved aminotransferase enzymes, and
supplementation with probiotics or pro- and prebiotics recovered the
grade of fatty liver in NAFLD patients.