Effect of daily consumption of probiotic yoghurt on insulin resistance in pregnant women: a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Z Tabassi
A Rahimi Foroushani
A Esmaillzadeh
Z Asemi
M Naghibi Rad
H Khorammian
M Samimi
Journal: European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2013)
Discipline: CLINICAL MEDICINE
Keywords: pregnant women; probiotic yogurt; insulin resistance; serum insulin levels; HOMA-IR
Affiliations: Research Center for Biochemistry and Nutrition in Metabolic Diseases, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran.

Abstract:  Background/objectives: Owing to excess body weight and increased secretion of inflammatory cytokines primarily during the third trimester, pregnancy is associated with elevated insulin resistance. To our knowledge, no report is available indicating the effects of probiotic yoghurt consumption on serum insulin levels in pregnant women. This study was designed to determine the effects of daily consumption of probiotic yoghurt on insulin resistance and serum insulin levels of Iranian pregnant women. Subjects/methods: In this randomized controlled clinical trial, 70 primigravida pregnant women with singleton pregnancy at their third trimester were participated. We randomly assigned participants to consume 200 g per day of conventional (n=33) or the probiotic group (n=37) for 9 weeks. The probiotic yoghurt was a commercially available product prepared with the starter cultures of Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus, enriched with probiotic culture of two strains of lactobacilli (Lactobacillus acidophilus LA5) and bifidobacteria (Bifidobacterium animalis BB12) with a total of min 1 × 10⁷ colony-forming units. Fasting blood samples were taken at baseline and after 9-week intervention to measure fasting plasma glucose and serum insulin levels. Homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was used to calculate insulin resistance score. Results: Although consumption of probiotic yogurt for 9 weeks did not affect serum insulin levels and HOMA-IR score, significant differences were found comparing changes in these variables between probiotic and conventional yogurts (changes from baseline in serum insulin levels: +1.2±1.2 vs +5.0±1.1 μIU/ml, respectively, P=0.02; and in HOMA-IR score: -0.2±0.3 vs 0.7±0.2, respectively, P=0.01). Conclusions: It is concluded that in contrast to conventional yogurt, daily consumption of probiotic yogurt for 9 weeks maintains serum insulin levels and might help pregnant women prevent developing insulin resistance. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 The html version of this paper indicates the  ATLAS Collaboration as the first  author . Can the authors offer some insight, please? https: www.nature.com articles ejcn2012189 , 
  04 May 2020 Editor s Note: The Co-Editors-in-Chief are currently investigating this article as concerns have been raised about integrity of the clinical trial reported here. There is also an ongoing investigation by the Iranian National Committee for Ethics in Biomedical Researches. Further editorial action will be taken as appropriate once the investigation into the concerns is complete and all parties have been given an opportunity to respond in full. , 
 There are many concerns about the integrity of 172 publications by this research group, including this one. Some of the concerns are published 1. Anaesthesia 2020;75:1683u201392, see Supplementary data. This paper is A8 2. Account Res 2020; 28:149-61. 3. J Clin Epidemiol 2021;131:22-29. Journals and publishers were notified of these concerns in July 2019. 17 publications have an expression of concern. To our knowledge there has been no public response about any of the concerns. We think these publications are unreliable ,