Table 4.

Subgroup analysis of inflammatory biomarkers.

Subgroup by	No. of trials	No. of participants	Probiotics	Prebiotics	Synbiotics
Changes of hs-CRP
Follow-up period
<3 months	6	331	–	−2.71 (−6.28, 0.86)	−1.19 (−5.70, 3.32)
≥3 months	8	396	−1.49 (−1.99, −0.98)*	−0.14 (−0.92, 0.65)	−2.74 (−3.49, −1.98)*
Target population
Dialysis patients	12	621	−1.62 (−3.75, 0.52)	−2.68 (−4.69, −0.67)*	−2.01 (−3.86, −0.17)*
Non-dialysis patients	2	106	−0.67 (−1.19, −0.15)*	0.00 (−0.58, 0.58)	–
Changes of TNF-α
Follow-up period
<3 months	3	210	–	−2.65 (−3.93, −1.38)*	−1.20 (−4.23, 1.83)
≥3 months	1	16	–	−0.07 (−0.85, 0.71)	–
Target population
Dialysis patients	4	236	–	−2.65 (−3.91, −1.39)*	−1.20 (−4.22, 1.82)
Non-dialysis patients	0	0	0	0	0
Changes of IL-6
Follow-up period
<3 months	5	261	–	−17.24 (−20.28, −14.20)*	0.90 (−0.46, 2.26)
≥3 months	5	189	−7.83 (−21.19, 5.52)	−0.65 (−1.45, 0.15)	−29.93 (−45.72, −14.14)*
Target population
Dialysis patients	9	404	−4.67 (−30.96, 21.62)	−12.87 (−25.20, −0.55)*	−11.75 (−30.37, 6.87)
Non-dialysis patients	1	46	–	−0.48 (−1.07, 0.10)	–

^*P < 0.05 compared with placebo.

hs-CRP, high sensitivity C-reactive protein; TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor-α; IL-6, interleukin-6.