Effects of probiotics supplementation on blood pressure: An umbrella meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

AimsSeveral meta-analyses have revealed that probiotics could lower blood pressure (BP), but the findings were inconsistent. In this regard, an umbrella meta-analysis was carried out to provide a more accurate estimate of the overall impacts of probiotics supplementation on BP.Data synthesisWe searched the following international databases till November 2021: PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. A random-effects model was applied to evaluate the effects of probiotics on BP. Sensitivity analysis was performed by using the leave-one-out method. Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) was used to evaluate the certainty of evidence. Pooled effect size of 14 meta-analyses with 15,494 participants indicated significant decreases in both systolic (Weighted mean difference (WMD) = ?1.96 mmHg; 95% confidence interval (CI): ?2.78, ?1.14, p < 0.001, and standardized mean difference (SMD) = ?2.62; 95% CI: ?4.96, ?0.28, p < 0.001) and diastolic BP (WMD = ?1.28 mmHg; 95% CI: ?1.76, ?0.79, p < 0.001, and SMD = ?0.60 mmHg; 95% CI: ?1.08, ?0.12, p = 0.014) following probiotics supplementation. Greater effects on SBP were revealed in trials with a mean age of >50 years and the duration of intervention ≤10 weeks. DBP was also more reduced in studies with a dosage of ≥10¹⁰ colony forming unit (CFU), and SBP was decreased in patients with hypertension or diabetes analyzing WMD.ConclusionThe present umbrella meta-analysis suggests probiotics supplementation to improve BP and claims that probiotics could be used as a complementary therapy for controlling high BP.Prospero IDCRD42022306560.