A clinical trial of a probiotic and herbal supplement for lung health yielded promising results, including improvements in lung functions and quality of life scores in participants, according to a study published in Frontiers in Nutrition.
The supplement, resB Lung Support by ResBiotic Nutrition Inc, a Lactobacillus probiotic and herbal blend, was tested in healthy volunteers and asthmatic patients in a one-month randomized, open-label clinical trial in Cork, Ireland. Participants took the blend twice a day. The primary endpoint was safety, with exploratory endpoints including quality of life, lung function, gut microbiome ecology, and inflammatory biomarkers.
According to the study, all subjects tolerated the blend without adverse events. Asthmatic subjects who took the blend showed significant improvements in lung function as measured by forced expiratory volume and serum short-chain fatty acid levels from baseline to week four.
The gut microbiome of asthmatic subjects differed significantly from controls, with the most prominent difference in the relative abundance of the proteobacteria Escherichia coli. Administration of the probiotic maintained overall microbial community architecture with the only significant difference being an increase in absolute abundance of the probiotic strains measured by strain-specific PCR.
The study supported the safety and efficacy potential of a Lactobacillus probiotic plus herbal blend to act on the gut-lung axis. However, a longer blinded, placebo-controlled study will be warranted to confirm the efficacy improvements observed in this trial, the study concludes.
“This is a critical step in our scientific roadmap where ResBiotic is trying to disrupt the wellness industry with truly science-backed and efficacious solutions,” says ResBiotic founder Vivek Lal, MD, FAAP, in a release. “Each ingredient in resB Lung Support has been validated and tested for efficacy in several studies, and we are launching similar science-backed products to our portfolio this year.”
