Nonfood Probiotic, Prebiotic, and Synbiotic Use Reduces All-Cause and Cardiovascular Mortality Risk in Older Adults: A Population-Based Cohort Study

• DOI: 10.1007/s12603-023-1921-1
• Publication Date: 2023-05-18T10:02:01Z
• Authors: R. Shen; S. Chen; W. Lei; J. Shen; Lingchun Lv; Tiemin Wei
• Keywords: Synbiotics; Risk of mortality

Abstract Objectives Pro-, pre-, and synbiotic supplements improve cardiovascular risk factors. However, the association between nonfood pro-, pre-, and synbiotics and long-term all-cause and cardiovascular mortality have not been studied. Thus, our objective was to determine the impact of nonfood pro-, pre-, and synbiotics to all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Design, setting, and participants: A retrospective, cohort study of 4837 nationally representative American participants aged 65 years or older with a median follow-up duration of 77 months. Measurements: all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Results A total of 1556 participants died during the median 77 months follow-up, and 517 died from cardiovascular disease. Compared with participants without nonfood pro-, pre-, and synbiotics use, nonfood pro-, pre-, and synbiotics use reduces nearly 41% risk of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio 0.59, 95%CI 0.43 to 0.79) and 52% risk of cardiovascular mortality (HR 0.48, 95%CI 0.30 to 0.76). Such an effect persists in most subgroup analysis and complete-case analysis. Conclusion and relevance: In this study, we found a protective effect of NPPS for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in Americans aged 65 years or older. Nonfood pro-, pre-, and synbiotics can be a novel, inexpensive, low-risk treatment addition for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality for older individuals.