The Use of Probiotics as an Adjunctive Therapy in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD): A Systematic Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53366/jimki.v12i2.828Keywords:
Inflammatory Bowel Disease, probiotics adjunctive therapy, quality of lifeAbstract
Introduction:
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a group of chronic inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Conventional therapies such as aminosalicylates and corticosteroids often cause side effects and have not been optimal in improving patients’ quality of life. Probiotics are increasingly considered as adjunctive therapy due to their potential in modulating gut microbiota and immune responses. This review aims to evaluate the effectiveness of probiotics as an adjunct therapy in IBD patients.
Methods:
This systematic review was conducted based on PRISMA guidelines by searching the PubMed, Science Direct, and Scopus databases. Included studies were randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from the last five years comparing probiotics with placebo or standard therapy in IBD patients. Collected data included study characteristics, types and doses of probiotics, duration of intervention, as well as clinical, immunological, and quality of life outcomes.
Discussion:
Eight selected RCTs showed that administration of probiotics or synbiotics, especially multi-strain preparations such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, consistently increased clinical remission, reduced disease activity scores, improved inflammatory parameters (decreased IL-6, IL-8, TNF-?), improved nutritional status (BMI, albumin), and enhanced patients’ quality of life (IBDQ, SF-36 scores).
Conclusion:
Probiotics have been proven beneficial as adjunctive therapy in patients with mild to moderate IBD, both in improving clinical remission, reducing inflammation, and enhancing quality of life and nutritional status. However, further research is needed to determine the most optimal strains, doses, and duration of probiotic therapy in the IBD population.
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