Abstract
Micronutrient deficiencies are a worldwide public health concern. Emerging evidence supports the ability of probiotics to enhance micronutrient status, which could aid in the prevention of non-communicable disease-associated malnutrition. This systematic review evaluated evidence of the efficacy of probiotic supplementation to improve micronutrient status in healthy subjects. The authors searched for published English language peer-reviewed journal articles in PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Google Scholar databases from inception to July 2020 using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The quality of eligible studies was assessed using the Revised Cochrane Risk-of-Bias tool (RoB)2 and Risk of Bias in Non-Randomized Studies of Interventions tool (ROBINS-I tool). Fourteen original studies out of 2790 met the inclusion criteria. The results indicated that, despite varying degrees of efficacy, the intake of certain probiotics in healthy subjects was associated with a positive impact on the status of certain micronutrients (vitamin B12, calcium, folate, iron and zinc). A limitation was that studies were widely heterogeneous in terms of participant age, probiotic strain, species, dosage, intervention duration, and form of administration. Additional clinical trials are warranted to determine the most effective strains of probiotics, doses and durations of interventions.
Highlights
Micronutrients are organic or inorganic food compounds that are not used for energy but are essential for the maintenance of health and include vitamins and minerals
An expert workshop on the influence of microbiota and probiotics and/or prebiotics on malnutrition held by the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) has called for more clinical studies assessing the use of probiotics to combat malnutrition [12]
The results indicated that the plasma levels of vitamin E, lycopene and zeaxanthin decreased significantly in both the probiotic and control groups
Summary
Micronutrients are organic or inorganic food compounds that are not used for energy but are essential for the maintenance of health and include vitamins and minerals. A variety of interventions, such as large-scale food fortification, have been used to improve micronutrient status on a population level to decrease disease burden. Despite such public health programs, micronutrient deficiencies in terms of iron, vitamin A and zinc continue to be major global health issues [3]. Probiotics can enter the host via food or supplements Despite obstacles such as gastric acidity and bile acids that impede the viability of administered probiotic microorganisms, probiotics can survive in sufficient numbers [9] to colonize colonic regions to provide health benefits, including vitamin production [10,11]. An expert workshop on the influence of microbiota and probiotics and/or prebiotics on malnutrition held by the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) has called for more clinical studies assessing the use of probiotics to combat malnutrition [12]
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