## 3 Results
### Effects of Probiotics on the Intestinal Microbiome, Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome
Each volunteer was given seven 80 mL bottles every week until they reached 45 d of intake and were asked to consume one bottle every morning. Anthropometric and biochemical parameters were evaluated at the beginning of the study and after 45 days. Waist circumference, body weight, and height were measured, while BMI was calculated (kg/m\({}^{2}\)). Three blood pressure measurements taken at 1 min intervals were recorded. At the end of the study, beneficial effects of _B. lactis_ on lipid profile, BMI, and cytokine levels in patients with MetS were observed. Furthermore, a reduction in the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-a and Interleukin (IL-6) was found, contributing to an improvement in lipid metabolism and weight loss, leading to a reduction in the characteristic parameters of MetS and obesity [33]. Another randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled 8-week study evaluated the effects of a probiotic vogurt fortified with the probiotic strains _Lactobacillus acidophilus_ and _Bifidobacterium lactis_. The 44 participants were randomly divided into two groups. probiotic and regular yogurts contained _lactobacillus bulgaricus_ and _Streptococcus thermophilus_, while the probiotic yogurt was supplemented with cultures of _B. lactis_ and _L. acidophilus_. The participants consumed 300 g/day of probiotic or regular yogurt for 8 weeks, respectively. As reported by the microbiologic analysis, the average concentrations of _L. acidophilus_ and _B. lactis_ in the probiotic yogurt was 6.45 \(\times\) 10\({}^{6}\) and 4.94 \(\times\) 10\({}^{6}\) cfu/g, respectively, at the first day after production, which became 2.30 \(\times\) 10\({}^{6}\) and 2 \(\times\) 10\({}^{6}\) cfu/g, respectively, on day 7. Both probiotic bacteria had a constant survival rate during the 7 d storage time at an average concentration of 4.41 \(\times\) 10\({}^{6}\) and 3.55 \(\times\) 10\({}^{6}\) cfu/g, respectively [34]. A significant correlation has been reported among MetS and increased levels of circulating adhesion molecules such as vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1, intracellular cell adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1, and plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI)-1 [35]. Important reductions in VCAM-1 and PAI-1 levels in the serum of participants with MetS were observed. Furthermore, significant reductions were observed in the fasting glucose and insulin levels of the probiotic yogurt group [34]. The aim of another randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study was to evaluate the effect of various doses of a multispecies probiotic supplement on LPS levels and cardiometabolic parameters in 81 obese postmenopausal women after 12 weeks of consumption. The participants were randomly divided into three groups that were given a low or high dose of the supplement or a placebo. At the end, 71 participants (placebo group, n = 24, low-dose probiotic (LD) group, n = 24, and high-dose probiotic (HD) group, n = 23) completed the 12-week study. The probiotic group received saches containing 2 g of freeze-dried powder of the probiotic mixture. The HD group received HD (1 \(\times\) 10\({}^{10}\) CFU per day divided in two equal doses), while the LD group received 2.5 \(\times\) 10\({}^{9}\) CFU per day divided in two equal doses. The probiotic preparation contained nine bacterial strains: _Bifidobacterium bifidum W23, Bifidobacterium lactis W51, Bifidobacterium lactis W52, Lactobacillus hus acidophilus W37, Lactobacillus brevis W63, Lactobacillus csei W56, Lactobacillus salivarius W24, Lactococcus lactis W19_, and _Lactococcus lactis W58_. All strains were present in almost the same amounts, while the viability of the strains was evaluated every 3 months. The placebo group received the same sachets containing only the excipients, i.e., maize starch and maltodext. All participants were required to consume two sachets per day, one in the morning and one at the end of the day, after dissolving the contents in a glass of room-temperature water.