The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of synbiotic and probiotic supplementation on serum vascular dysfunction and necrosis markers in hemodialysis (HD) patients. In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 75 HD patients were randomly assigned to either the synbiotic or probiotic or placebo group. The patients in the synbiotic group received 15 g of prebiotics and 5 g probiotic powder containing Lactobacillus acidophilus strain T16 (IBRC-M10785), Bifidobacterium bifidum strain BIA-6, Bifidobacterium lactis strain BIA-6, Bifidobacterium longum strain LAF-5 (2.7 × 107 CFU/g each) in sachets (n = 25), whereas the probiotic group received 5 g probiotics same to the first group with 15 g of maltodextrin powder in sachets (n = 25) and the placebo group received 20 g of maltodextrin powder in sachets (n = 25) for 12 weeks. At baseline and the end of the study, serum concentrations of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule type 1 (sICAM-1), soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule type 1 (sVCAM-1), cytokeratin 18 (CK-18) as the necrosis marker, uric acid, and phosphate levels were measured. Feces also were collected for microbiota colony counting. Serum ICAM-1 level reduced significantly in the synbiotic group after the intervention period (P = 0.02), and this reduction was significantly different in the synbiotic group in comparison to the placebo group (P = 0.03). Serum levels of VCAM-1 and CK-18 were not significantly different between the groups. However, the reduction in serum levels of VCAM-1 in the synbiotic group was significantly higher in comparison to the placebo group (P = 0.01). Multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that ∆ phosphate was the sole independent determinant of ∆ICAM-1 (P = 0 < 001). The study indicated that synbiotic supplementation reduced serum ICAM-1 level, which is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases in HD patients, but has no effect on the necrosis marker. Trial registration: www.irct.ir (IRCT2017041233393N1).
Keywords: Cardiovascular; Cytokeratin 18; Hemodialysis; Probiotic; Synbiotic.