Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of study participants.
| Variable | Study groups | p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group Aa | Group Bb | ||
| Sex (n, %) | 0.411§ | ||
| Male | 10, 25.6 | 6, 17.1 | |
| Female | 29, 74.4 | 29, 82.9 | |
| Age (year) | 38.94 ± 7.19 | 35.90 ± 8.64 | 0.108¶ |
| Education (n, %) | 0.541§ | ||
| ≤ 6 years of official education | 3, 7.7 | 6, 17.1 | |
| 6–10 years of official education | 18, 46.2 | 17, 48.6 | |
| B.Sc. degree | 14, 35.9 | 10, 28.6 | |
| M.Sc. degree and above | 4, 10.3 | 2, 5. | |
| Weight (Kg) | 96.92 ± 17.27 | 91.20 ± 13.73 | 0.121¶ |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 34.59 ± 3.97 | 34.24 ± 3.16 | 0.685¶ |
| WC (cm) | 115.42 ± 10.13 | 113.39 ± 8.38 | 0.337¶ |
| BDI-II | 21 (15, 29) | 20.50 (15.00, 25.25) | 0.685R |
| MoCA | 24.92 ± 2.99 | 24.08 ± 3.49 | 0.271¶ |
| Serum magnesium (mg/dl) | 2.00 ± 0.16 | 1.97 ± 0.22 | 0.879¶ |
| Serum LPS (ng/ml) | 217.00 (179.50, 256.50) | 217.00 (181.00, 264.00) | 0.860R |
| Serum zonulin (ng/ml) | 13.73 (8.92, 18.88) | 13.02 (10.00, 18.25) | 0.808R |
| Serum CRP (ng/ml) | 5705.94 ± 3583.72 | 6201.82 ± 4705.63 | 0.899 |
aGroup A: intervention group, received one probiotic capsule (Probio-Tec®BG-VCap-6.5, containing 1.8 × 1010 CFU Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. Lactis) plus one magnesium chloride capsule (containing 125 mg elemental magnesium), on a daily basis for 9 weeks.
bGroup B: received two placebo capsules containing maltodextrin on a daily basis for 9 weeks.
§ P-values obtained from Chi-2 test.
¶ p-values obtained from independent samples t- test.
R p-values obtained from Mann-Whitney U test.
*P ≤ 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.
B.Sc., bachelor of science; M.Sc., master of science; BMI, body mass index; WC, waist circumference; BDI-II, Beck depression inventory-II test; MoCA, Montreal Cognitive Assessment tool; LPS, lipopolysaccharide; CRP, C-reactive protein; CFU, Colony Forming Unit.