Gut microbiota and host metabolism in liver cirrhosis

Table 2 Effects of the probiotics intervention on gut microbiota composition and its clinical and/or biochemical consequences

Type of study	Category of patients/duration of treatment	Probiotics	Clinical outcome	Ref.
RCT	36 cirrhotics/6 mo	Lactobacillus.acidophilus, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Bifidobacterium lactis and S. thermophiles	Blood ammonia levels	[88]
RCT	65 cirrhotics/6 mo	Lactobacilli	Incidence of HE, hospital admission, plasma-ammonia level, serum bilirubin level	[83]
R	50 cirrhotics/14 d	Bifidobacterium, L. acidophilus and Enterococcus vs Bacillus subtilis and Enterococcus faecium	Bifidobacterium count, fecal pH, fecal and blood ammonia in both groups, endotoxin level only with B. subtilis and E. faecium	[89]
RCT	17 cirrhotics with HVPG > 10 mmHg/2 mo	VSL # 3®	Plasma aldosterone	[81]
RCT	41 chronic liver disease/14 d	Bifidobacterium bifidus, L. acidophilus, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, and S. thermophilus	E. coli count, intestinal flora imbalance, improvement in debilitation, food intake, abdominal distension, and ascitic fluid	[90]
RCT	66 cirrhotics underwent liver transplantation/2 wk after the operation	Pediacoccus pentosaceus, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Lactobacillus paracasei and Lactobacillus plantarum	Infectious complication	[78]
RCT	39 cirrhotics/42 d	E. coli Nissle	Endotoxemia, Child-Pugh score, Restoration of normal colonic colonization	[91]
RCT	63 cirrhotics patients with large oesophageal varices without history of variceal bleeding/2 mo	Propranolol plus VSL # 3®	HVPG, plasma TNF-α levels.	[92]
RCT	25 nonalcoholic minimal HE cirrhotics (defined by a standard psychometric battery)/60 d	Yogurt contained L. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus	Minimal HE	[93]
RCT	61 cirrhotics underwent hepatic surgery/2 wk before and after surgery	Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota, Bifidobacterium breve strain Yakult, and galactooligosaccharides	Intestinal integrity, infectious complication	[79]
RCT	63 cirrhotics underwent liver transplantation/12 d after the operation	L. plantarum 299 and oat fiber	Infectious complication	[77]
RCT	50 cirrhotics underwent living donor liver transplantation/2 d and 2 wk before and after the operation, respectively	L. casei strain Shirota, B. breve strain Yakult, and galactooligosaccharides	Infectious complication	[94]
RCT	30 cirrhotics with minimal HE/4 wk	Lactobacillus GG	Endotoxemia, gut dysbiosis, gut microbiome-metabolome linkages	[69]
RCT	138 cirrhotics/3 mo	VSL # 3®	HE, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth	[84]

HE: Hepatic encephalopathy; HVPG: Hepatic venous pressure gradient; RCT: Randomized controlled trial; R: Randomized.