Table 6.

Human intervention studies using fermented foods containing synbiotics.

Food matrix	Probiotic/s and prebiotic/s	Administered daily amount and duration of treatment	Food intake evaluation	Study design	Subjects main characteristics	Effects on gut microbiota	Gut microbiota analysis methods and microbial groups analyzed	Colonization evaluation	Persistence evaluation	Methods of analysis for colonization	References
Fermented milk (Control: fermented milk without probiotics and prebiotics)	Lactobacillusarhamnosus IMC 501® and L.a paracasei IMC 502® + oat bran fiber	200 g containing 1 × 109 CFU for each strain + 8 g oat bran fiber, for 4 weeks	No	Double blind randomized placebo controlled trial (n = 10, 5 treated and 5 placebo)	Italian healthy adults (3 men and 7 women); age range 20–45 years	Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria increased, no differences for the other groups	qPCR for Lactobacillus spp., Bifidobacterium spp., Enterobacteriaceae, Clostridium coccoides-Eubacterium rectale group, Staphylococcus spp., Bacteroides-Prevotella-Porphyromonas spp	No	–	–	(65)
Fermented milk (Control: heat-treated fermented milk without probiotics and fibers)	L. acidophilus La-5 and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12 + dietary fiber Beneo Orafti Synergy 1 (90% inulin, 10% oligofructose)	180 g containing on average 6.5 × 109 CFU La-5 and 9 × 109 CFU BB-12 + 7.2 g dietary fiber, for 4 weeks	No	Double blind randomized placebo-controlled multicentric trial with 2 weeks pre-intervention washout and 1 week post-intervention washout (n = 30, 11 treated and 19 placebo)	Slovenian and Croatian adults with IBS; age range 18–65 years	The abundance or proportion of Enterobacteriaceae, Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, or all bacteria was not affected by consumption of the synbiotic or placebo, except for a transient increase of Streptococcus thermophilus Both La-5 and BB-12 strains colonized, but vitality of La-5 was not confirmed. Persistence was not found	qPCR for Enterobacteriaceae, Bifidobacterium genus, Lactobacillus group, all bacteria 16S rRNA based metagenomics: V4 variable region of 16S rRNA gene (All bacteria)	Yes	Yes	Strain and subspecies-specific qPCR for La-5 and B. animalis subsp. lactis. RAPD-PCR profiling of cultured colonies for La-5 and BB-12 vitality	(66)
Yogurt	L.arhamnosus GR-1 + Moringa oleifera leaves	250 g containing 1 × 1010 CFU GR-1 + 4.3 g dried ground Moringa oleifera leaves. 6 days/week from time of recruitment (last 2 trimesters) until exiting the study (1 week to 1 month postpartum). Mean of treatment duration: 88 days ± 31	48 h dietary recall	Open label trial (n=56, 26 treated and 30 control) Longitudinal over pregnancy and after delivery	Tanzanian pregnant women; age range 18–40 years	Yogurt consumption had no effect on the mother's microbiota (but increased the relative abundance of Bifidobacterium and decreased Enterobacteriaceae in the newborn feces). No clear trend was detected when comparing probiotic to control groups	16S rRNA based metagenomics: V4 variable region of 16S rRNA gene (All bacteria)	No	–	–	(67)
Yogurt GRANAROLO ViviVivo (Control: pasteurized yogurt without probiotics and prebiotics)	L.arhamnosus GG (LGG) + FOS-Actilight	250 g containing approximately 2.5 × 109 CFU LGG + 6 g FOS, for 4 weeks	No	Adults: double blind randomized placebo-controlled trial with 2 weeks post-intervention washout (n = 38, 21 treated and 17 placebo). Elderly: Before-After trial with 2 weeks post-intervention washout (n = 12)	Two independent studies: Italian healthy adults (19 men and 19 women); age range 35–60 years, and elderly women with constipation, age range 76–90 years	No significant changes in bifidobacteria counts and Bifidobacterium spp. abundance were observed after supplementation, both in elderly and treated adults. LGG was able to colonize and persisted after washout in adults, whereas it only partially colonized and did not persist in elderly	Semi-quantitative PCR for total Bifidobacteria and for the 4 Bifidobacterium species: B. bifidum, B. longum, B. adolescentis and B. catenulatum	Yes	Yes	Semi-quantitative LGG strain-specific PCR	(68)
Fermented milk	L. acidophilus CSG, L.b brevis HY7401, Bifidobacterium longum HY8001, L.a casei HY2782 + fiber + lactulose	140 g containing 2.8 × 1010 CFU Lactobacillus + 6 g dietary fiber + 2 g lactulose, for 3 weeks	No	Before-After trial with 3 weeks post-intervention washout (n = 6)	Korean healthy adult women; age range 20-24 years	Relative abundance of Bacteroidetes (Bacteroidaceae and Prevotellaceae) increased during the treatment period and decreased during washout. Firmicutes (Ruminococcaceae and Lachnospiraceae) changed in the opposite way	16S rRNA based metagenomics: V1–V3 variable region of 16S rRNA gene (All bacteria)	No	–	–	(69)

^aRecently renamed Lacticaseibacillus.

^bRecently renamed Levilactobacillus.