Effects of probiotic supplementation over 5 months on routine haematology and clinical chemistry measures in healthy active adults

• Published in: European journal of clinical nutrition 2014-11, Vol.68 (11), p.1255-1257
• Main Authors: Cox, A J, West, N P, Horn, P L, Lehtinen, M J, Koerbin, G, Pyne, D B, Lahtinen, S J, Fricker, P A, Cripps, A W
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 692/53; Adolescent; Adult; Adults; Bifidobacterium; Bifidobacterium animalis; Biochemistry; Biological and medical sciences; Blood Chemical Analysis; Calcium; Calcium - blood; Chemistry; Clinical medicine; Clinical Nutrition; Dietary Supplements; Double-Blind Method; Epidemiology; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Health aspects; Healthy Volunteers; Hematology; Hematology - methods; Humans; Internal Medicine; Laboratories; Lactobacillus acidophilus; Male; Medical research; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Medicine, Experimental; Metabolic Diseases; Middle Aged; Nutrition research; Placebos; Probiotics; Probiotics - administration & dosage; Public Health; Safety; short-communication; Urea; Urea - blood; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0954-3007; 1476-5640
• DOI: 10.1038/ejcn.2014.137

Use of probiotic-containing foods and probiotic supplements is increasing; however, few studies document safety and tolerability in conjunction with defined clinical end points. This paper reports the effects of 150 days of supplementation with either a single- ( Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis Bl-04) or a double-strain ( Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis Bi-07) probiotic on routine haematology and clinical chemistry measures in healthy active adults. Pre- to post-intervention changes in laboratory measures were determined and compared between supplement and placebo groups. Overall there were few differences in routine haematology and clinical chemistry measures between supplement and placebo groups post-intervention. Exceptions included plasma calcium ( P =0.03) and urea ( P =0.015); however, observed changes were small and within assay-specific laboratory reference ranges. These data provide evidence supporting the use of these probiotic supplements over a period of 5 months in healthy active adults without obvious safety or tolerability issues.