## 3 Results
### Participant Characteristics
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Parameters**} & \multicolumn{4}{c}{_L. _paracasei_ (N = 26)**} & \multicolumn{4}{c}{**Placebo (N = 26)**} \\ \cline{2-7}  & **Baseline** & **6 Weeks** & **12 Weeks** & **Baseline** & **6 Weeks** & **12 Weeks** \\ \hline Total cholesterol & & & & & & & \\ (mg/dL) & 223.46 \(\pm\) 7.24 & 215.35 \(\pm\) 5.97 & 202.23 \(\pm\) 5.27 & 219.79 \(\pm\) 7.21 & 215.88 \(\pm\) 8.21 & 214.58 \(\pm\) 7.25 \\ Triglycerids (mg/dL) & 143.04 \(\pm\) 14.73 & 140.92 \(\pm\) 12.89 & 137.62 \(\pm\) 11.92 & 140.50 \(\pm\) 14.05 & 143.54 \(\pm\) 13.54 & 159.33 \(\pm\) 14.51 \\ HDL-cholesterol & & & & & & \\ (mg/dL) & 52.42 \(\pm\) 1.87 & 51.08 \(\pm\) 2.07 & 55.15 \(\pm\) 1.98 & 53.50 \(\pm\) 1.87 & 51.79 \(\pm\) 2.38 & 50.46 \(\pm\) 2.22 \\ LDL-cholesterol & & & & & & \\ (mg/dL) & 141.80 \(\pm\) 6.99 & 140.61 \(\pm\) 8.34 & 130.69 \(\pm\) 7.27 & 142.19 \(\pm\) 7.17 & 136.55 \(\pm\) 5.81 & 136.71 \(\pm\) 6.64 \\ FBS (mg/dL) & 99.31 \(\pm\) 7.50 & 98.46 \(\pm\) 6.03 & 94.92 \(\pm\) 5.04 & 95.21 \(\pm\) 5.24 & 103.79 \(\pm\) 4.68 & 101.92 \(\pm\) 5.89 \\ TAC (mmol/mL) & 51.74 \(\pm\) 5.42 & 56.20 \(\pm\) 5.57 & 61.50 \(\pm\) 6.69 & 48.69 \(\pm\) 3.71 & 50.46 \(\pm\) 4.44 & 46.92 \(\pm\) 4.09 \\ MDA (\(\mu\)mol/mL) & 0.54 \(\pm\) 0.02 a  & 0.47 \(\pm\) 0.02 ab  & 0.41 \(\pm\) 0.02 b  & 0.58 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.54 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 0.51 \(\pm\) 0.03 \\ GSH (\(\mu\)g/mL) & 125.42 \(\pm\) 7.38 & 135.67 \(\pm\) 7.21 & 150.34 \(\pm\) 10.98 & 131.65 \(\pm\) 5.51 & 132.18 \(\pm\) 6.39 & 143.62 \(\pm\) 8.64 \\ Lactic acid (\(\mu\)mol/g) & 3.33 \(\pm\) 0.41 a  & 5.54 \(\pm\) 0.81 ab  & 6.41 \(\pm\) 1.06 b  & 2.26 \(\pm\) 0.20 & 2.55 \(\pm\) 0.21 & 2.60 \(\pm\) 0.28 \\ Acetic acid (\(\mu\)mol/g) & 3.48 \(\pm\) 0.32 & 4.50 \(\pm\) 0.62 & 6.38 \(\pm\) 1.42 & 3.38 \(\pm\) 0.21 & 3.61 \(\pm\) 0.19 & 4.19 \(\pm\) 0.29 \\ Butyric acid (\(\mu\)mol/g) & 5.21 \(\pm\) 0.48 & 6.32 \(\pm\) 0.79 & 7.59 \(\pm\) 1.44 & 4.61 \(\pm\) 0.64 & 4.68 \(\pm\) 0.47 & 4.94 \(\pm\) 0.66 \\ Propionic acid & & & & & & \\ (mmol/g) & 16.55 \(\pm\) 1.50 & 17.44 \(\pm\) 1.22 & 18.22 \(\pm\) 1.44 & 13.87 \(\pm\) 1.29 & 12.66 \(\pm\) 1.01 & 12.78 \(\pm\) 1.16 \\ IL-10 (pg/mL) & 1.11 \(\pm\) 0.28 a  & 62.48 \(\pm\) 8.83 ab  & 48.40 \(\pm\) 15.09 b  & 3.17 \(\pm\) 1.12 & 18.41 \(\pm\) 8.30 & 25.13 \(\pm\) 11.83 \\ IFN-\(\gamma\) (pg/mL) & 40.52 \(\pm\) 8.54 a  & 63.22 \(\pm\) 10.90 a  & 153.16 \(\pm\) 29.92 b  & 45.77 \(\pm\) 25.17 & 67.11 \(\pm\) 16.16 & 99.04 \(\pm\) 41.95 \\ TNF-\(\alpha\) (pg/mL) & 13.40 \(\pm\) 5.06 & 7.22 \(\pm\) 2.13 & 4.12 \(\pm\) 1.84 & 10.60 \(\pm\) 6.14 & 8.67 \(\pm\) 3.29 & 11.22 \(\pm\) 5.18 \\ LPS (pg/mL) & 122.95 \(\pm\) 17.81 & 94.18 \(\pm\) 12.36 & 76.86 \(\pm\) 9.67 & 123.86 \(\pm\) 17.38 & 108.12 \(\pm\) 14.31 & 100.76 \(\pm\) 13.53 \\ IgA (ng/mL) & 403.05 \(\pm\) 41.52 & 464.24 \(\pm\) 59.53 & 544.93 \(\pm\) 80.76 & 406.92 \(\pm\) 50.67 & 456.74 \(\pm\) 58.31 & 478.36 \(\pm\) 61.45 \\ L/M ratio & 0.16 \(\pm\) 0.03 & 0.12 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 0.09 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.16 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 0.13 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 0.09 \(\pm\) 0.01 \\ \hline \multicolumn{7}{l}{The _p_-value was at a 95% confidence interval. \({}^{\rm abc}\) = different letters show the significant differences within each group at different times.} \\ HDL = High-Density Lipoprotein; LDL = Low-Density Lipoprotein; FBS = Fasting Blood Sugar; TAC = Total Antioxidant Capacity; MDA = Malondialdehydedehyde; GSH = Glutathione Reduced; IL = Interleukin; IFN-\(\gamma\) = Interferon gamma; TNF-\(\alpha\) = Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha; LPS = Lipopolysaccharideachardie; IgA = Immunoglobulin A; L/M = Lactulose/Manitol Ratio.} \\ \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: Studied parameters within each group at different times, expressed as the mean \(\pm\) SE. \begin{table}