Discussion
obesity, gestational diabetes, metabolic diseases, metabolic disease, T2DM, diabetes
METABOLIC DISEASES, OBESITY, GESTATIONAL DIABETES, DIABETES
IGT is closely associated with metabolic disease progression. According to the epidemiological data, about 70% of IGT patients progress to DM within 5 years in China (The treatment of metabolic diseases with probiotics is a hot topic in intestinal microbiota research. However, there are fewer studies on probiotics for the prevention and treatment of IGT patients. We previously observed that probiotics supplementation for IGT patients for 2 years did not significantly reduce the risk of IGT conversion to T2DM in the PPDP study (Although the relationship between the gut microbial ecological imbalance and the development of obesity and diabetes is being extensively explored, the conclusions of various studies are different. The results of randomized controlled studies on pregnant women with gestational diabetes or obesity showed that probiotic intervention had no effect on glycemic control, but might improve lipid metabolism (The gut microbiota profile may be related to and responsive to a particular dietary pattern (There are some limitations in our study. First, this was a small sample size study that enrolled a limited number of patients with IGT. More clinical and laboratory studies using large-size samples and long-term observation are needed to confirm the role of probiotics in developing IGT into DM. Second, the results of the study of Bifico used in this study as a probiotic supplement for Chinese patients are not representative of the effects of other strains on other people or races. Third, the study did not document lifestyle factors, such as diet and exercise, which might have influenced blood sugar outcomes. There is also no recorded family history of T2DM, which is a very strong risk factor for developing T2DM. However, the placebo control designed in this study could compensate for this effect to the greatest extent. To provide preliminary data that could drive more conclusive testing. Therefore, high-quality, large-scale, multicenter randomized controlled trials with longer follow-up are needed to compare safety and efficacy further.