Effects of synbiotic therapy in mild-to-moderately active ulcerative colitis: A randomized placebo-controlled study

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Recently, there has been an increasing interest in the effects of probiotics and prebiotics on ulcerative colitis (UC). In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of synbiotic therapy on the clinical and endoscopic activities of the disease in patients with mild-to-moderately active UC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Overall, 40 patients with mild-to-moderate UC activity were included in the study and were randomized to the synbiotic and control groups. Synbiotic therapy was administered in the synbiotic group and placebo was administered in the control group for 8 weeks. Both groups were evaluated and compared in terms of the acute phase reactants and clinical and endoscopic activities of the disease at the beginning and at the end of the 8-week therapy. RESULTS: At the end of the study duration, the decrease in the serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and sedimentation values in the synbiotic group was statistically significant (p=0.003). In both groups, a statistically significant improvement was observed in the clinical and endoscopic activity levels at the end of the treatment (symbiotic: p=0.001 and p=0.002, respectively; control: p=0.005 and p=0.001, respectively). When the groups were compared with each other, improvement in the clinical activity was significantly higher in the synbiotic group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The use of synbiotic therapy in patients with UC has a significant effect on the improvement in clinical activity. Moreover, although it appears to positively affect the acute phase reactants and endoscopic activity levels, the difference was not significant when compared with the patients who did not receive synbiotic therapy.