SynthesisBMC pediatrics2025
The role of microbiome-modulating supplements in managing metabolic syndrome risk factors among overweight and obese youth: a GRADE-assessed meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMC pediatrics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Pooled it
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundGut microbiota modulation has been proposed as a potential intervention for managing obesity. This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effects of prebiotic/probiotic/synbiotic supplementation on metabolic syndrome risk factors in obese pediatrics.
methodsA comprehensive search was conducted in databases up to January 2025. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating prebiotics/probiotics/synbiotics in children and adolescents with overweight/obesity were included. The outcomes were body weight (BW), body mass index (BMI), BMI-z score, fasting blood sugar (FBS), homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), insulin, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C). Data were pooled using a random-effects model.
resultsPrebiotic supplementation was associated with significant reductions in weight (SMD = - 0.81; 95% CI: - 1.44 to - 0.19) and BMI (SMD = - 0.76; 95% CI: - 1.38 to - 0.14), whereas BMI z-scores remained unchanged (p > 0.05). Probiotics and synbiotics did not significantly affect weight, BMI, or BMI z-scores (p > 0.05). Glycemic and lipid profile parameters were not significantly altered by any biotic supplementation (p > 0.05). Subgroup analyses by intervention type, duration, sample size, or baseline BMI did not reveal consistent effects (p > 0.05).
conclusionBiotic supplementation has not been shown to consistently improve metabolic syndrome risk factors in overweight and obese children, except for a modest beneficial effect of prebiotics on weight and BMI (with very-low certainly of evidence); however, alternative probiotic organisms or formulations not tested to date may have different effects.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.