Department of Internal Medicine, Naval Pohang Hospital, Pohang, South Korea.
Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Jeonbuk National University Medical School, Research Institute of Clinical Medicine of Jeonbuk National University-Biomedical Research Institute of Jeonbuk National University Hospital, Jeonju, South Korea.
Sci Rep. 2021 Jan 13;11(1):926. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-79630-2.
This study was aimed at investigating the clinical efficacy of probiotics in pneumonia patients. To this end, we enrolled 80 participants diagnosed with pneumonia at Naval Pohang Hospital, Pohang, Korea, from May 2016 to January 2017. The participants were randomly assigned to the control and probiotic groups depending on whether they received probiotics. All participants clinically improved but 22.6% of the participants complained of abnormal stool habits after pneumonia treatment. In comparison, fever duration was significantly shorter in the probiotic group, and the group exhibited an improved general condition. The probiotic group also showed better stool characteristics according to the Bristol stool scale (P = 0.009). Notably, the serum hs-CRP levels were significantly lower in the probiotic group at 2 weeks of treatment (P = 0.015), and all participants in the probiotic group achieved their levels within the normal range. Flow cytometry was used to analyze T-helper 17 (Th17) cells and regulatory T cells (Tregs). Tregs were promoted and the Th17 cell/Treg ratio was suppressed after 2 weeks of treatment in the probiotic group (P = 0.007 and 0.037, respectively). This study demonstrated that probiotics improved clinical symptoms and normalized inflammatory biomarker levels in patients with pneumonia. Early infection and inflammation recovery may be due to the immunomodulatory effects of probiotics by facilitating the subset of Tregs and suppressing the Th17 cell/Treg ratio.
本研究旨在探究益生菌在肺炎患者中的临床疗效。为此，我们招募了 2016 年 5 月至 2017 年 1 月在韩国浦项海军医院确诊为肺炎的 80 名参与者。根据是否接受益生菌治疗，将参与者随机分为对照组和益生菌组。所有参与者的临床症状均有所改善，但肺炎治疗后有 22.6%的参与者抱怨出现异常的粪便习惯。相比之下，益生菌组的发热时间明显缩短，且一般状况得到改善。根据布里斯托粪便量表，益生菌组的粪便特征也更好（P=0.009）。值得注意的是，在治疗 2 周时，益生菌组的血清 hs-CRP 水平显著降低（P=0.015），且益生菌组所有参与者的水平均恢复正常。我们使用流式细胞术分析了 T 辅助 17（Th17）细胞和调节性 T 细胞（Tregs）。在益生菌组，治疗 2 周后，Tregs 得到促进，Th17 细胞/Treg 比值受到抑制（P=0.007 和 0.037）。本研究表明，益生菌可改善肺炎患者的临床症状并使炎症生物标志物水平正常化。早期感染和炎症恢复可能是由于益生菌的免疫调节作用，促进 Tregs 亚群并抑制 Th17 细胞/Treg 比值。
