Benefits of probiotics in rheumatoid arthritis patients: A systematic review and meta analysis

The systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the efficacy of probiotics in treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by analyzing nine trials with 385 patients. The study found that probiotic consumption significantly improved the 28-joint disease activity score (DAS28) and decreased levels of high-sensitivity CRP, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-12 in RA patients compared to placebo. However, probiotics did not affect the ACR20 response, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, IL-6, and IL-10. The study concluded that probiotics had beneficial effects on RA, suggesting potential for treatment guidelines, but emphasized the need for more trials with larger sample sizes to confirm these findings.