Table 2.
Intervention studies showing the impact of probiotics, prebiotics or synbiotics on the gut microbiota in elderly people. The general treatment performed (probiotics, prebiotics or synbiotics) is indicated with uppercase bold letters. D, day; w, week; m, month; y, year.
| Subjects, country, age (n) | Dietary intervention (period) | Main gut microbiota changes | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| PROBIOTICS | |||
| Healthy elderly, Finland, 76-92y (66) | Randomized, double blinded placebo controlled study: fermented oat drink with Bifidobacterium longum 46 and B. longum 2C (BIF) vs non fermented placebo oat drink (6 m) | BIF:↑bifidobacteria, Bifidobacterium catenulatum, Bifidobacterium bifidum, Bifidobacterium breve | 112 |
| Healthy elderly, Italy, 71-78y (32) | Randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled study: biscuit with Bifidobacterium longum Bar33 and Lactobacillus helveticus Bar13 (PRO) vs placebo biscuit (1 m) | PRO:↓ opportunistic pathogens: Clostridium cluster XI, Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens, Enterococcus faecium and Campylobacter | 113 |
| Healthy elderly, Italy, France, Germany, 65-85y (62) | Open label, randomized, multicentre study: RISTOMED diet alone (RD) vs RD + probiotic VSL#3 (VSL) (8 w) | VSL:↑ bifidobacteria. | 114 |
| Healthy elderly (>60y) (80) | Randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled study: reconstituted skimmed milk with Bifidobacterium lactis HN019 at low dose (L), B. lactis medium dose (M), B. lactis high dose (H) vs placebo (4w and 2w wash out ) |
L, M, H:↑ bifidobacteria, lactobacilli, enterococci L, M, H:↓ enterobacteria |
115 |
| PREBIOTICS | |||
| Healthy elderly, England, (64-79y) (44) |
Randomized, double blinded placebo controlled, cross over: galacto-oligosaccharides mixture (BGOS) vs placebo (10w and 4w wash out ) |
BGOS:↑ bifidobacteria, lactobacilli, Clostridia Cluster XIVa ↓bacteroides, Clostridium histolyticum group, Escherichia coli, and Desulfovibrio spp |
116 |
| Healthy elderly, England, (>50y) (37) |
Randomized, double blinded placebo controlled, cross over: juice containing galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) vs placebo juice (3w and 3w wash out ) | GOS:↑ bifidobacteria | 107 |
| Healthy elderly, England, (65-80y) (40) |
Randomized, double blinded placebo controlled, cross over: galacto-oligosaccharides mixture(BGOS) vs placebo (10w and 4w wash out ) |
BGOS:↑ bifidobacteria, bacteroides ↑ lactic acid |
106 |
| SYNBIOTICS | |||
| Healthy elderly, Scotland, (>62 y) (18) |
Double blinded placebo controlled: mixture of Bifidobacterium bifidum BB-02 + Bifidobacterium lactis BL-01 + inulin (BB+BL+IN) vs placebo (5w and 3w wash out ) | BB+BL+IN:↑ bifidobacteria, B. bifidum, lactobacilli | 117 |
| Healthy elderly, Finland, (>65y) (51) | Double blinded placebo controlled: mixture of Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM+ lactitol (LB+L) vs placebo (4w and 3w wash out ) | LB+L:↑ bifidobacteria, lactobacilli | 118 |
| Healthy elderly, Scotland, (65-90y) (43) | Randomized, double blinded placebo controlled, cross over: mixture of Bifidobacterium longum + inulin (BL+IN) vs placebo (4w and 4 w washout) |
BL+IN:↑ bifidobacteria, phyla Actinobacteria and Firmicutes ↑butyrate ↓Proteobacteria |
119 |