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PROBIOTICS DELAY COVID INFECTION AND CUT SYMPTOMS
Probiotics, specifically lactobacillus, demonstrated a significant ability to delay a COVID infection and reduce symptoms among unvaccinated people who had been in contact with someone in their home diagnosed with COVID, researchers report in a new study.
The randomized, placebo-controlled study suggests that probiotics could be a relatively simple and inexpensive approach to treating people after a COVID exposure.
The finding could be a timely intervention as COVID-tracking data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show hospital admissions and deaths on the rise in the US at the same time holiday celebrations will bring people together.
Additionally, fewer than 20% of the US population has received the 2023 updated COVID vaccine, according to the most recent CDC data.
“Prior to COVID, there was strong evidence that probiotics were protective against respiratory infections,” says Paul Wischmeyer, associate vice chair for clinical research in Duke University’s anesthesiology department and co-lead author of the study in the journal Clinical Nutrition.
“Once COVID hit, it was imperative to determine whether this simple, well-tolerated intervention could be useful. Our study provides encouraging evidence for the use of probiotics.”
Wischmeyer and colleagues launched their investigation in March 2020, prior to widespread vaccine availability in the United States. Patients were enrolled if they were unvaccinated and had been exposed to someone with COVID, but had not yet exhibited symptoms.
The study enrolled 182 participants, with half randomly assigned to take a probiotic of lactobacillus and the other half randomized to take a placebo pill. Neither study participants nor administrators knew who was receiving the active therapy.
Wischmeyer says the study enrollment period was shortened because the pool of eligible participants declined as vaccines became more commonplace and infections began leveling off prior to the Delta wave.
Upon analysis, the researchers found that participants randomized to receive the probiotic were 60% less likely to develop COVID symptoms compared to those randomized to receive placebo—26.4% vs. 42.9%. The probiotic participants were also able to stave off infection longer compared to those receiving the dummy pill.
Although the probiotic group had a numerically lower incidence of COVID-19 diagnosis, the rate did not meet statistical significance (8.8% COVID diagnosis rate in probiotic vs. 15.4% COVID diagnosis rate in control group) because of the study size.
“We are actually not surprised by these findings,” Wischmeyer says. “There have been several studies that have demonstrated the strong efficacy of probiotics against respiratory infections, including a very large study among babies in India that was published in Nature in 2017.
“Other early studies have shown that probiotics may also enhance the effect of vaccines against other viral illnesses, such as influenza.”
Wischmeyer cited evidence that probiotics improve immune function in several ways, including increasing the population of regulatory T-cells, decreasing pro-inflammatory cytokines, increasing the lung’s protective barrier against infection, and modulating antiviral gene expression.
“While limited in sample size, our study lends credence to the notion that our symbiotic microbes can be valuable partners in the fight against COVID-19 and potentially other future pandemic diseases,” Wischmeyer says.
“This may be particularly relevant in under-resourced nations where vaccination rates have lagged and even in the US, where COVID boosters are not widely accessed.”
The Duke Microbiome Center and private philanthropic donations supported the work. DSM/iHealth donated the probiotic and placebo pills for the trial, but had no role in the study’s design, conduct, analysis, or writing.
注释：
lactobacillus: n
表示" 乳酸杆菌"，如：It is traditionally made by adding common strains of Streptococcus and Lactobacillus bacteria to raw milk. 传统制作是在鲜奶里添加嗜热链球菌或保加利亚乳酸杆菌。
respiratory: adj
表示" 呼吸的；与呼吸有关的"，如：He had an infection in the upper respiratory tract. 他上呼吸道感染。
anesthesiology: n
表示" 麻醉学"，如：The usual concept of anesthesiology relates primarily to the prevention of pain percetion during an operation. 一般认为，麻醉学主要是与防止手术时疼痛感觉有关。
imperative: adj; n
表示"必要的；n 命令"，如：It is imperative that we make a quick decision. 我们要尽快做出决定。Survival is our first imperative. 我们当务之急是设法生存下来。
stave: v
表示"避开"，means "furnish with staves"，如：Bailouts amount to mortgaging the future to stave off the wolf howling at the door. 紧急援助意味着为了避开正在门口嚎叫的野狼而将未来抵押出去。
credence: n
表示" 信任；相信"，如：I attach little credence to what she says. 我对她的话姑妄听之。
中文简要说明：
我们的的身体是个复杂的系统，要维持健康，体内菌丛平徤也是重要因素。其中对身体有益处的细菌被称为「益生菌」，经常扮演关键角色。研究人员在一项新的研究中报告说：益生菌，特别是乳酸菌，能够改善确诊新冠病毒的人，推迟病毒感染和减轻症状的能力。
未来主义(Futurity)报导，这是来自美国杜克大学(Duke University)的研究，团队先是以随机安慰剂与益生菌的比对，发现益生菌的正向帮助具有统计学上的意义，它可能是一种相对简单且便宜的新冠病毒感染后的应对方法。
杜克大学麻醉学系临床研究副主任保罗‧威斯梅尔(Paul Wischmeyer)说：「「在新冠症状出现之前，有强有力的证据表明，益生菌可以预防呼吸道感染。经过研发发现，这种简单、耐受性良好的干预措施是有效果的。」
威斯梅尔的研究团团，早在 2020 年 3 月，美国广泛提供疫苗之前就先启动了益生菌调查，如果患者未接种疫苗且，曾接触过新冠病毒感染者，但尚未表现出症状，就纳入研究对象。团队招募了182名参与者，其中一半随机分配服用乳酸菌益生菌，另一半随机分配服用安慰剂药丸。研究参与者和管理人员都不知道谁接受了益生菌治疗。
经过分析，研究人员发现，与随机接受安慰剂的参与者相比，随机接受益生菌的参与者出现新冠症状的可能性降低了 60%，分别为 26.4% 和 42.9%。与接受模拟药丸的参与者相比，益生菌参与者也能够更长时间地避免感染。
威施梅尔说：「实际上，我们对这些发现并不那么感到惊讶，早就有多项研究证明益生菌对呼吸道感染具有强大功效。比如2017年发表在《自然》杂志上发表的一项针对印度婴儿的大型研究，也有类似的结论。」
「其他早期研究表明，益生菌还可以增强疫苗针对其他病毒性疾病（例如流感）的效果。」
威斯梅尔认为，益生菌可以透过多种方式改善免疫功能，包括增加调节性 T 细胞的数量、减少促炎细胞因子，也能增强肺部抵抗感染，并调节抗病毒基因的显现。
「这对于疫苗接种率落后的资源贫乏国家，甚至对美国来说也很重要，因为美国对新冠疫苗加强剂并没有广泛使用。」
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