Effect of probiotics on the intestinal microbiota of hemodialysis patients: a randomized trial

Intestinal dysbiosis contributes to the progression of renal failure and cardiovascular diseases in patients with chronic kidney disease. Probiotics is a promising intervention to improving intestinal dysbiosis. A double-blind clinical trial to investigate the ability of probiotics to modulate gut microbiota compositions in patients receiving hemodialysis (HD) was undertaken.

Fifty HD patients were enrolled and randomized, receiving either probiotics or placebo for 6 months. The responses to the interventions on gut microbiome, serum and fecal metabolome, serum albumin and endotoxin, endothelial activation markers and inflammatory markers were assessed.

Totally, 22 in the probiotics group (11 males; 14 non-diabetic) and 23 in the placebo group (13 males; 17 non-diabetic) completed the study. Compared to that in the placebo group, probiotics did not significantly alter species diversity of the fecal microbiome. Probiotics did, however, restore the community composition, with particular significance in non-diabetic HD patients (P = 0.007 by Adonis analysis). Specifically, according to the results of linear discriminate analysis effect size, probiotics raised the proportions of family Bacteroidaceae and Enterococcaceae, and reduced Ruminococcaceae, Halomonadaceae, Peptostreptococcaceae, Clostridiales Family XIII. Incertae Sedis and Erysipelotrichaceae in non-diabetic HD patients. Additionally, probiotics reduced the abundances of several uremic retention solutes in serum or feces, including indole-3-acetic acid-O-glucuronide, 3-guanidinopropionic acid, and 1-methylinosine (P < 0.05). In the probiotic arm, no significant changes were observed in other secondary outcomes.

Taken together, outcomes from this study suggest that probiotics do have benefits on improving intestinal imbalances and lowering exposure to several uremic toxins in HD patients.