The effect of probiotics, parabiotics, synbiotics, fermented foods and other microbial forms on immunoglobulin production: a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials
What this study found
Pooled microbial supplementation produced a small increase in salivary IgA secretion rate, but most other immunoglobulin outcomes were not significantly changed. Salivary IgA secretion rate improved in 8 studies (N=452; SMD 0.21, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.39; p=0.03), but the effect was no longer significant after excluding inactivated probiotic studies (SMD 0.16, 95% CI -0.11 to 0.44). No significant effects were seen for salivary IgA concentration (N=1651; SMD 0.11, 95% CI -0.02 to 0.24), IgE, Japanese cedar pollen-specific IgE, IgG, or IgM; serum IgA was significant only when healthy and ill…
- Study & population
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of adult clinical trials in participants older than 18 years.
- Intervention
- Clinical trials of oral microbial-form interventions, including probiotics, parabiotics, synbiotics, fermented foods, and other microbial forms, were pooled across studies.
- Key limitation
- Findings were driven by heterogeneous interventions, populations, and outcome definitions, with several analyses showing substantial heterogeneity.
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Open PDFOriginal abstract
Abstract The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the effect of probiotics, parabiotics, synbiotics, fermented foods and other microbial forms on immunoglobulin production. We searched PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, National Institute of Health Clinical Trials Register, and Cochrane Central Register of Clinical Trials, up to February 2020. All clinical trials that investigated the effects of oral intake of probiotics, parabiotics, synbiotics, fermented foods and other microbial forms on immunoglobulin (Ig)A, IgE, Japanese cedar pollen (JCP)-specific IgE, IgG, and IgM, for a duration of >7 days were included. Fifty-nine studies met the inclusion criteria, of these 54 studies were included in the analysis. The results indicated a significant increase in salivary IgA secretion rate (SMD = 0.21, 95% CI 0.02–0.39), while no significant effect was observed on other Igs. In conclusion, mentioned supplementation induced a small but significant effect on salivary secretion rate of IgA.