Probiotics and blood pressure: current insights

Figures & data

Figure 1 Probiotics and their metabolite-related health promoting functions.

Abbreviations: CLA, conjugated linoleic acid; GABA, γ-amino butyric acid.

Table 1 Anti-hypertensive effect of probiotics or probiotic fermented foods: in vivo studies

Beneficial effect	Tested strains	Subjects	Dose (CFU)	Form	Result	Reference
Reduced systolic blood pressure (SBP)	Lactobacillus casei	60 pre-diabetic patients (25–65 years old)	7×10^9	Capsule (500 mg)	SBP 3.10±2.2 mmHg	^Citation89
	Lactobacillus acidophilus		2×10^9	Prebiotic
	Lactobacillus rhamnosus		1.5×10^9	Fructooligosaccharide
	Lactobacillus bulgaricus		2×10^8
	Bifidobacterium breve		2×10^10
	Bifidobacterium longum		7×10^9
	Streptococcus thermophilus		1.5×10^10
Hypotensive effect	S. thermophilus	Meta-analysis	NA	NA	SBP 3.1±1.56 mmHg	^Citation88
	Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus	702 human subjects			DBP 1.09±0.06 mmHg
	L. acidophilus
	Lactobacillus kefiri
Anti-hypertensive effect	Lactobacillus helveticus	46 hypertensive men (aged 23–59 years)	160 g/day	Sour milk (Ameal S)	SBP 5.2±8.1 mmHg	^Citation84
	Saccharomyces cerevisiae				DBP 1.7 mmHg
Reduced blood pressure	L. casei	28 hypertensive patients (14 males and 14 females)	NA	400 mg cell lysate (LEx)	SBP 9±2 mmHg	^Citation85
					DBP 6±2 mmHg
Reduced blood pressure levels	L. helveticus	36 hypertensive subjects aged 40–80 years	95 mL/day	Fermented milk (Ameal S)	4 weeks	^Citation90
	S. cerevisiae				SBP 9.4±3.6 mmHg
					8 weeks
					SBP 14.1±3.1 mmHg
					DBP 6.9±2.2 mmHg
	L. helveticus LBK-16H	39 hypertensive subjects	150 mL/day	Fermented milk (Evolus^®)	SBP 6.7±3.0 mmHg	^Citation91
					DBP 3.6±1.9 mmHg
Reduction in high blood pressure levels	L. helveticus CM4	Total 80 subjects	12 g/day	Tablet	High–normal group	^Citation92
		40 – high–normal BP			SBP – no significant change
		40 – mild hypertension (MH)			DBP 5.0±0.1 mmHg
					MH group
					SBP 11.2±4.0 mmHg
					DBP 6.5±0.1 mmHg
Reduced blood pressure levels	L. helveticus LBK-16H	17 mild-hypertensive subjects	150 mL/day	Fermented milk (Evolus^®) containing Ile-Pro-Pro and Val-Pro-Pro tripeptides	7.3% reduction	^Citation26
Lowering blood pressure	L. casei Strain Shirota	39 MH patients 16 women and 23 men (aged between 28–81 years)	100 mL/day	Fermented milk containing GABA	SBP 17.4±4.3 mmHg	^Citation22
					DBP 7.2±5.7 mmHg
	Lactococcus lactis YIT 2027
		Mean age 54.2 years
Lowers blood pressure	L. helveticus LBK-16H	60 subjects (36 men, 24 women)	150 mL/day	Fermented milk containing	10 weeks (mean)	^Citation93
					SBP 2.3 mmHg
				2.5–2.7 mg/150 mL	DBP ±0.5 mmHg
				Ile-Pro-Pro and Val-Pro-Pro tripeptides
Reduces blood pressure, triglyceride, and cholesterol levels	Group 1	70 healthy,	450 mL/day	Fermented milk	8 weeks mean	^Citation94
	S. thermophilus	overweight, and		(yogurt)	Group 1
	(2 cultures) +	obese subjects			ΔSBP 4.4±1.8 mmHg
	L. acidophilus	20 males			ΔDBP 3.4±1.5 mmHg
	(2 cultures)	50 females			Group 2
	Group 2	18–55 years old			ΔSBP 8.0±2.3 mmHg
	S. thermophilus				ΔDBP 4.0±2.3 mmHg
	(2 cultures) +				Group 3
	Enterococcus faecium				ΔSBP 2.6±3.1 mmHg
	(Causido^®) GAIO				ΔDBP 0.8±2.0 mmHg
	Group 3
	S. thermophiles
	(2 cultures) +
	L. rhamnosus
Significant reduction in SBP, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels	S. thermophilus	20 healthy adults	200 mL/day	Fermented milk containing whey protein concentrate	Significant reduction in SBP	^Citation101
	TMC1543		6.8×10^8/mL and 2.6×10^7 respectively		(P<0.05)
	L. casei TMC0409
Reduced blood pressure and body mass indexes	Lactobacillus plantarum	40 subjects	50 g/day	Probiotic cheese	Morning	^Citation102
	TENSIA				ΔSBP 12.2±1.5 mmHg
					ΔDBP 4.0±0.9
					Evening
					ΔSBP 8.8±0.9 mmHg
					ΔDBP 1.6±1.2 mmHg

Abbreviations: DBP, diastolic blood pressure; SBP, systolic blood pressure; NA, not available.

Figure 2 Causative agents of hypertension and potential modes of probiotic action on hypertension.

Abbreviation: BSHs, bile salt hydrolases.

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