Probiotics Improve Blood Glucose Control

TURKU, Finland—Probiotics may improved blood glucose control even in a normoglycaemic population and may provide potential novel means for the prophylactic and therapeutic management of glucose disorders, according to a study published in the British Journal of Clinical Nutrition (DOI:10.1017/S0007114508111461). Researchers examined whether supplementation of probiotics with dietary counseling affected glucose metabolism in normoglycaemic pregnant women. At the first trimester of pregnancy, 256 women were randomized to receive nutrition counseling to modify dietary intake according to current recommendations or as controls; the dietary intervention group was further randomized to receive probiotics (Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and Bifidobacterium lactis Bb12; diet/probiotics) or placebo (diet/placebo) in a double blind manner, whilst the control group received placebo (control/placebo). Blood glucose concentrations were lowest in the diet/probiotics group during pregnancy (P=0.025) and over the 12-month postpartum period (P=0.025). Better glucose tolerance in the diet/probiotics group was confirmed by a reduced risk of elevated glucose concentration compared with the control/placebo group (P=0.013) as well as by the lowest insulin concentration (P=0.032) and homeostasis model assessment (P=0.028) and the highest quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (P=0.028) during the last trimester of pregnancy. The effects observed extended over the 12-month postpartum period.