Table 3.

Differences of immunological parameters between groups and within-group.

Items		Baseline	D31	D61	D91
TNF-α (pg/ml)	Probiotics and prebiotics	86.6 ± 20.1	87.0 ± 20.2	100.5 ± 20.5 **	87.6 ± 21.0
	Placebo	88.3 ± 21.3	84.8 ± 26.9	98.5 ± 27.8	81.8 ± 25.3
	Mean difference (95% confidence interval)		3.4 (-3.0, 9.8)	2.8 (-4.6, 10.2)	7.1 (0.8, 13.4)
	P-Value		0.29	0.46	0.03
INF-γ (pg/ml)	Probiotics and prebiotics	503.8 ± 200.5	670.2 ± 238.4 ***	473.4 ± 202.9	595.3 ± 157.8 *
	Placebo	489.3 ± 211.8	637.7 ± 266.5	466.5 ± 206.2	570.3 ± 199.3
	Mean difference (95% confidence interval)		21.0 (-59.6, 101.6)	-2.0 (-71.5, 67.6)	18.159 (-40.5, 76.8)
	P-Value		0.61	0.95	0.54
IL-17 (pg/ml)	Probiotics and prebiotics	335.7 ± 82.3	313.6 ± 73.4	321.4 ± 67.0	292.5 ± 65.1 **
	Placebo	337.1 ± 80.2	315.9 ± 85.8	311.9 ± 89.3	275.5 ± 78.9
	Mean difference (95% confidence interval)		-2.5 (-24.8, 19.8)	9.1 (-15.6, 33.7)	17.9 (-1.3, 37.1)
	P-Value		0.83	0.47	0.07
IL-4 (pg/ml)	Probiotics and prebiotics	38.3 ± 11.1	49.5 ± 13.0 ***	40.7 ± 9.9	42.3 ± 8.6
	Placebo	37.2 ± 11.6	48.2 ± 14.0	40.6 ± 12.0	41.2 ± 11.6
	Mean difference (95% confidence interval)		0.4 (-3.6, 4.5)	-0.6 (-4.1, 2.9)	0.6 (-2.4, 3.6)
	P-Value		0.84	0.74	0.71
IgE (ng/ml)	Probiotics and prebiotics	330.1 ± 106.4	344.6 ± 90.3	334.2 ± 91.3	337.6 ± 85.1
	Placebo	320.1 ± 103.1	324.4 ± 108.8	331.2 ± 114.6	325.6 ± 118.5
	Mean difference (95% confidence interval)		11.5 (-11.1, 34.2)	-4.8 (-35.1, 25.5)	4.3 (-20.9, 29.6)
	P-Value		0.32	0.75	0.73

Data are expressed as mean ± SD. The Wilcoxon rank sum test or t-test was used to compare differences between groups at baseline and within groups; covariance analysis was used to compare differences in immunological parameters from baseline between groups. ^* P < 0.05, ^** P < 0.01, ^*** P < 0.001 for the difference from baseline within groups. TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor-α; INF-γ, interferon-gamma; IL-17, interleukin 17; IL-4, interleukin 4; IgE, immunoglobulin E.

The bold values mean statistical significance.