Effects of probiotic yogurt consumption on intestinal permeability in inflammatory bowel disease: A double-blind randomized clinical Trial

Disorders in intestinal permeability have been reported in the pathophysiology of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) that may be compensated by complementary therapies through modifying the composition of the intestinal microflora. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of probiotic yogurt on intestinal permeability in patients with IBD.

In this double-blind randomized clinical trial, 86 patients in the probiotic yogurt group (intervention patient), 90 patients in the plain yogurt group (control patient) and 84 volunteers in healthy control group  receiving 250 g of commercial probiotic/plain yogurt daily for 8 weeks. At the end of the eighth week, a lactulose/mannitol ratio (LMR) test was used to assess intestinal permeability.

The mean age of participants in the study was 37.7 years and the mean body mass index in all subjects was 24.17 ± 2.65 kg/ m2. There was no significant difference in the LMR of the intervention group and control patient group at the beginning of the study (P=0.08) However, at the end of the period, this ratio decreased significantly in the intervention group compared to the control patient group (P=0.023). Importantly, this indicator in the healthy control group in comparison with intervention group was significantly lower at the beginning and at the end of the study.

The results of the present study showed that probiotics consumption via diet such as its use in dairy products such as yogurt can be a good way to improve gastrointestinal damage, including improving the permeability of the intestine and prevent or repair mucosal damage.