Research in Medicine

Background: Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) is one of the common metabolic diseases among pregnant women that needs delicate monitoring and control to improve the metabolic condition and to reduce pregnancy complications. Despite scarce data on the effect of probiotic supplementation on glycemic control and serum lipids concentrations in women with GDM, probiotic supplements and their effects on pregnancy outcome have become the center of focus in research. In the present study, we aimed to determine the impact of probiotic supplementation on glycemic control, lipid profiles, pregnancy, and infancy outcomes in GDM patients.
Methods: In the current clinical trial, 120 GDM patients underwent a specific diet. Patients were divided into two separate groups to receive either probiotic supplements (N=60) or a matching placebo (n=60). The study groups received nutrition counseling and the patients received treatment for six weeks. Demographic characteristics (participants’ age, gestational age, gravidity, and BMI) were evaluated and serum levels of Fasting Blood Sugar (FBS), Triglyceride, Total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and HDL cholesterol were examined before and after the intervention, respectively. Besides, weight of the newborn infants, Apgar scores, the requirement of using insulin among pregnant mothers, and pregnancy outcomes were examined carefully.For statistical analysis, SPSS, version 20, was used running Student›s t and Mann-Whitney U tests 
Results: There were no significant differences in demographic characteristics between the two groups. All the participants were in the early second trimester period. After six weeks of intervention, probiotic supplementation resulted in a significant decrease in FBS (p=0.01) and the requirement for insulin administration was significantly lower in comparison with the control group (P=0.026). In addition, we observed elevated lipid profiles in both groups. A significant rise in serum HDL (P=0.01) was also observed following supplementation with the probiotics and a significant elevated serum level of LDL in the control group (P=0.01). In the group with the probiotic supplementation diet, the weight of newborn infants (P=0.001) and pregnancy complications (P=0.028) were also significantly lower in comparison with those of the control group.
Conclusion: The results of our study demonstrated that using probiotic supplements in women with GDM had beneficial effects on glycemic control, reduction of the requirement of using insulin, serum LDL cholesterol concentration, serum HDL cholesterol concentration, and less adverse pregnancy and infancy outcomes