TABLE 1.
Baseline characteristics of the study population according to randomization group
| Characteristic | Result for: |
P value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Probiotic-placebo group | Placebo-probiotic group | ||
| Sex, no. male/female | 7/8 | 7/8 | 1.000 |
| Age, yr (range) | 32 (26–45) | 28 (25–33) | 0.176 |
| BMI, kg/m² | 23.6 ± 2.1 | 22.1 ± 1.9 | 0.064 |
| Smoking status, no. yes/no/ex-smoker | 1/13/1 | 1/10/4 | 0.314 |
| Medication intake, no. yes/noa | 7/8 | 6/9 | 0.712 |
| Smoking pack years | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–0.5) | 0.288 |
a
Intake of medication known to affect microbiota composition or gastrointestinal transit time (including antibiotics, prebiotics, and other probiotics) the preceding month or during the study was part of the exclusion criteria.