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During the ART era, persistent immune activation remains a significant challenge in people living with HIV (PLWH). Microbial translocation play an essential role in this setting. Probiotics have several immunological benefits which can reverse this process. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the safety and efficacy of probiotics on CD4 counts among Iranian PLWH.

In total, 50 PLWH with CD4 counts above 350 cells/mm³ did not receive ART participated in a randomized, double-blind trial and underwent 24 weeks of treatment with either LactoCare® or placebo twice daily. CD4 counts of the patients were measured at baseline, 12 weeks and 24 later in the two groups. Side effects were measured monthly using a specific checklist.

The mean CD4 count of the patients showed a significant difference between the two groups after six months. Through six months follow up, the mean CD4 count of the patients showed a significant reduction as compared to the baseline in the placebo group; however, it did not show a significant difference in the probiotic group. Repeated Measures Anova test showed a significant effect for time × treatment interaction on the CD4 count during the trial course. No significant difference between the two groups concerning adverse events was reported.

It seems the use of probiotics in PLWH with a CD4 count above 350 cells/mm³ who are not receiving antiretroviral drugs is safe and can reduce the devastating process of CD4+ T cells in these patients.

Interest in probiotic food products has constantly increased due to the awareness on importance of gut microbiome; an increasing demand has encouraged the development of other matrices such as cereals, vegetable and fruit juices to deliver probiotics. The purpose of this paper is to standardize and evaluate a ready to serve probiotic oats milk drink fermented with microencapsulated Lactobacillus plantarum to be further used as a therapeutic module.

Fermentation of oats milk extract with microencapsulated L.plantarum was subjected to various trials in making it favourable for consumption and tested for sensory characteristics, physicochemical parameters, nutrient content, viable colony count and shelf life.

Fermented oats milk drink with 3% inoculum of microencapsulated L.plantarum was able to achieve desirable level of 2.5 × 10⁸ and 2.3 × 10⁸ colony forming units (CFU)/mL for spice and strawberry flavoured drink, respectively. Antioxidant property significantly increased after fermentation showing inhibitory effect against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) assay (p = 0.05).

Analysis of all the parameters were conducted only with three samples; this was the potential limitation identified in this study as large sample size always be a better representative of the results.

Spice and strawberry flavoured nondairy oats milk drink facilitated to be a suitable carrier for microencapsulated L. plantarum with good sensory attributes, low fat, moderate calorie, high fiber content, antioxidant potential and a shelf life of two-week period at 4°C.

The developed ready to serve, spice and strawberry flavoured nondairy oats milk drink with compactly packed functional components inclusive of beneficial probiotic organisms, ß-glucan and antioxidants can be prescribed as a therapeutic food for many clinical conditions and would serve as a good probiotic option for vegans.