Effect of treatment with probiotics in the reduction of altered levels of the lipid profile in humans and rats: a systematic review

Abstract

Introduction: Evidence suggests that the use of probiotics can prevent or help in the treatment of diseases such as obesity, acute infectious diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, liver problems, and the correction of hyperlipidemia, whether of total cholesterol, c-HDL, c-LDL or triglycerides. Probiotic strains have been studied that with various mechanisms can decrease lipid levels in children, adults and rats. Objective: To demonstrate the lipid-lowering effect of some probiotic strains tested in humans and rats, compiling research that supports it. Methods: A search was carried out for articles with a year of publication between 2013 and 2023, experimental, observational and cohort studies published in English, full text available and analysis of the decrease in some lipid profile marker due to the use of probiotics. The MESH terms and the Boolean operators used for the search were “probiotics, lipid-lowering, children; Adults; rats and lipid profile”. Data sources: the databases used were PubMed, Google Scholar, Elsevier, Clinical Key, and ScienceDirect. Results: Of 2150 articles, 30 were included. After the analysis of the selected articles, the results reveal that probiotics have a beneficial effect on the lipid profile by 25,01%. Total cholesterol level was reduced by 16,65%, c-LDL 32,02% and c-HDL was raised by 21,71%. Conclusion: Supplementation with specific strains of probiotics has a lipid-lowering effect, especially it reduces hypercholesterolemia through various mechanisms, but more studies are required to determine the dosage and treatment time.