Clinical Implications of Dietary Probiotic Supplement (Associated with L-Glutamine and Biotin) in Ulcerative Colitis Patients' Body Composition and Quality of Life

Flavia Maria Pavel; Simona Gabriela Bungau; Delia Mirela Tit; Timea Claudia Ghitea; Ruxandra Cristina Marin; Andrei-Flavius Radu; Radu Dumitru Moleriu; Tiberia Ilias; Cristian Bustea; Cosmin Mihai Vesa

doi:10.3390/nu15245049

Clinical Implications of Dietary Probiotic Supplement (Associated with L-Glutamine and Biotin) in Ulcerative Colitis Patients' Body Composition and Quality of Life

Nutrients. 2023 Dec 8;15(24):5049. doi: 10.3390/nu15245049.

Authors

Flavia Maria Pavel^{1

2}, Simona Gabriela Bungau^{1

3}, Delia Mirela Tit^{1

3}, Timea Claudia Ghitea³, Ruxandra Cristina Marin⁴, Andrei-Flavius Radu^{1

2}, Radu Dumitru Moleriu⁵, Tiberia Ilias⁶, Cristian Bustea⁷, Cosmin Mihai Vesa^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Doctoral School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, University of Oradea, 410087 Oradea, Romania.
² Department of Preclinical Disciplines, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy of Oradea, University of Oradea, 410073 Oradea, Romania.
³ Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, 410028 Oradea, Romania.
⁴ Fundeni Clinical Hospital, 022328 Bucharest, Romania.
⁵ Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, West University of Timisoara, 300223 Timisoara, Romania.
⁶ Department of Medical Disciplines, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, 410073 Oradea, Romania.
⁷ Department of Surgery, Oradea County Emergency Clinical Hospital, 410169 Oradea, Romania.

Abstract

Patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) are reported to have changes in body structure, with negative impact on the course of disease. This study explored the effects of a standardized nutritional supplement containing five bacterial strains of at least five billion bacteria (Bifidobacterium infantis, Bifidobacterium animalis, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Lactobacillus helveticus, and Enterococcus faecium), L-glutamine, and biotin on the body composition and quality of life of patients with UC. Ninety-three patients over 18 years of age with a confirmed diagnosis of UC, for whom body composition could be accurately determined, were included in this observational follow-up randomized study. These patients were split into two groups: UC-P (44 patients with dietary counselling and supplement with probiotics) and UC-NP (49 patients with dietary counselling, without supplement). Body composition was assessed using the multifrequency bioelectrical impedance device, and the quality of life related to UC was evaluated by applying the short inflammatory bowel disease questionnaire (SIBDQ). The results showed that the average value of muscular mass (MM) and sarcopenic index (SMI) significantly increased (p = 0.043, respectively, p = 0.001) and a large fraction (p = 0.001) of patients had their SMI levels normalized in the UC-P group compared with UC-NP group. The extracellular water to total body water ratio (ECW/TBW) also had significantly different mean values (p = 0.022), favoring the UC-P group. By testing the differences between the average values of body composition parameters before and after treatment, we obtained significant results in body mass index (BMI) (p = 0.046), fat free mass (FFM) (p < 0.001), and ECW/TBW ratio (p = 0.048). The SIBDQ total score increased significantly (p < 0.001) in the UC-P group and was more strongly associated with changes in body parameters. Supplementation with probiotics associated with L-glutamine and biotin can improve body composition parameters, which in turn implies an increase in the overall quality of life of patients with UC.

Keywords: body composition; dysbiosis; inflammatory bowel diseases; probiotic; quality of life; ulcerative colitis.

Publication types

Observational Study

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Biotin / therapeutic use
Body Composition
Colitis, Ulcerative* / drug therapy
Dietary Supplements
Glutamine / therapeutic use
Humans
Inflammatory Bowel Diseases* / complications
Probiotics* / therapeutic use
Quality of Life

Substances

Biotin
Glutamine

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Romanian Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitization through Program 1—Development of the National Research and Development System, Subpro-gram 1.2—Institutional Performance—Projects for funding the excellence in RDI, Contract No. 29 PFE/30.12.2021 with the University of Oradea. APC was partially supported by the University of Oradea, Oradea, Romania.