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Background & aims Existing evidence on the possible effects of pro-/synbiotics on overweight or obese children and adolescents has not been fully established. Therefore, the present review was undertaken to evaluate the overall effects of pro-/synbiotics supplementation on anthropometric indices and metabolic indices in overweight or obese children and adolescents. Methods A systematic computerized literature search of PubMed, Scopus, ISI Web of science and Google Scholar databases was conducted up to November 2018. All RCTs using pro-/synbiotics supplements in overweight or obese children and adolescents included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. Results Overall 9 randomized trials including 410 subjects were identified for the present meta-analysis. Pooled analysis did not illustrate any significant changes in BMI z-score, waist circumference, weight, body fat, fasting blood sugar and lipid profiles (triglyceride, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol) after supplementation with pro-/synbiotics for 4–16 weeks. However, subgroup analysis by intervention type revealed a significant reduction of BMI z-score in synbiotic subgroups. Conclusion Based on our findings, modulation of gut microbiota composition through pro-/ synbiotic supplements did not have favorable effects to manage overweight or obese children and adolescents. Further large-scale studies are warranted to confirm present findings.

Objective We identified and quantified the results of randomized clinical trials by examining the effect of barberry supplementation on blood pressure. Methods We conducted a comprehensive search in the medical bibliographic database up to May 2020 on randomized clinical trials investigating the effect of barberry supplementation on adult blood pressure. Intensive literature searches and data extraction according to a prefixed scheme was performed independently by two investigators. Results Through 5 randomized clinical trial studies, 350 subjects with 175 cases for the intervention group and 175 cases for control group were included in our study. The intervention period ranged from 4 to 12 weeks. In general, barberry supplementation did not have a significant effect on systolic blood pressure (WMD: -4.15 mmHg; 95 % CI: -10.3, 1.99, P = 0.185) and diastolic blood pressure (WMD: -1.22 mmHg; 95 % CI: -6.26, 3.82, P = 0.635). Our study was heterogeneous and subgroup analysis did not eliminate heterogeneity. Conclusion Totally, based on this study, we cannot conclude that barberry supplementation has beneficial effects on blood pressure. Also, all included studies had limitations such as different in geographical situations, Dietary of participants, health conditions, and pharmacological forms of berberis. Therefore, further study in this area is recommended.

There is a positive link between thyroid homeostasis and the composition of gut microbiota. A limited number of studies have suggested the efficacy of probiotic products on levothyroxine metabolism and thyroid hormone activity. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of synbiotic supplementation on thyroid function, inflammation markers, and blood pressure in subjects with hypothyroidism.This study was conducted as a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 60 patients with hypothyroidism. Participants were randomly recruited into two groups to receive either 500 mg/day of synbiotic (n = 30) or a placebo (n = 30) for 8 weeks.Thyroid-stimulating hormone concentration, levothyroxine dose, and fatigue severity scale score were significantly decreased after the 8-week intervention in the synbiotic group (P 0.05), while there were no significant differences seen in the placebo group. In addition, FTSynbiotic supplementation among hypothyroid patients for 8 weeks may have beneficial effects on thyroid function. Further studies with larger sample size and longer duration are needed to confirm the current findings.

Objective We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of barberry (Berberis vulgaris L.) supplementation on glycemic indices in adults. Methods A comprehensive search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, and ISI Web of Science from inception up to January 2020, to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the effect of barberry supplementation on glycemic markers including fasting blood sugar (FBS) concentrations, insulin levels, homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) percentage. The results of this meta-analysis were reported, based on the random effects model. Results In total, 7 studies, comprising 452 participants, were included in the systematic review. The meta-analysis revealed that barberry significantly reduces insulin levels (Hedges’s: -0.67; 95% CI: -1.31 to -0.03, P = 0.04, I2 = 73.3%). However, no considerable changes was observed for FBS levels (WMD: -8.06 mg/dL; 95% CI: -20.46 to 4.33, P = 0.23, I2 = 96.1%), HbA1c percentage (WMD: -0.83 %; 95% CI: -2.33 to 0.67, P = 0.27, I2 = 88.3%), and HOMA-IR index (WMD: -0.55; 95% CI: -1.60 to 0.50, P = 0.30, I2 = 99.4%). Conclusion The present study suggests that although barberry supplementation significantly improves insulin levels; however, other glycemic indices might not be affected. However, more high-quality RCTs with longer duration are needed to further clarify the effects of barberry on blood glucose control, especially among patients with diabetes.

A number of studies have examined the beneficial effects of Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) on fatigue in different population, but the findings have been inconclusive. Herein, we systematically reviewed available interventional studies to elucidate the overall effects of CoQ10 supplementation on fatigue among adolescent and adult population.PubMed, Cochrane's library, Science direct, Scopus, Google scholar and ISI web of science databases were searched for all available literature until April 2018 for studies assessing the effects of CoQ10 supplementation on fatigue. The Cochrane bias assessment tool were used to assess the quality of studies.A total of 16 studies out of 1316 met our inclusion criteria and included in our systematic review. Among included studies 10 of them showed significant beneficial effects (p 0.05) of CoQ10 supplementation on fatigue status among healthy, fibromyalgia, statin-related fatigue, multiple sclerosis and end-stage heart failure subjects. CoQ10 supplementation could alleviate fatigue, but differences between studies population should be taken into account.It seems CoQ10 has better therapeutic effects in statin-related fatigue and fibromyalgia patients compared with the other disease related fatigue. Finally, in order to draw a firm link between CoQ10 and fatigue, more clinical trials with adequate sample size and with sufficient follow-up periods are needed.