The Role of Prebiotics and Probiotics as an Adjuvant Therapy in Children with Idiopathic Relapsing Nephrotic Syndrome: A Prospective Open-label Clinical Trial

Idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS) is the most common cause of NS in children. It is characterized by the existence of edema, proteinuria, and hypoalbuminemia, as well as repeated relapses. The etiology remains unknown, but new evidence for its pathogenesis relates to the dysfunction of T-regulatory (T-reg) cells, which could be caused by dysbiosis of the gut microbiota. Our study aimed to investigate the effect of prebiotics and probiotics as adjuvant therapies for children with relapsing INS. The study was designed as a prospective open-label randomized clinical trial involving 30 children diagnosed with relapsing INS. The children were randomly divided into two groups. Group 1 was treated with prednisone only, and Group 2 was treated with prebiotics and probiotics in addition to prednisone. Fresh stool samples were collected from the children. Lactobacillus species were isolated and identified by conventional microbiological methods. The total number of Lactobacillus species was counted for each stool sample. The population of T-reg cells in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells was analyzed using flow cytometry. Children treated with prebiotics and probiotics in addition to steroids showed a significant increase in T-reg cells (CD4+/CD25+/FOXp3+) in the peripheral blood and a higher count of Lactobacillus species in their stool alongside a significant decrease in the rate of relapses in this group compared with Group 1. Treatment with prebiotics and probiotics significantly increased T-reg cells and decreased the rate of relapse in INS.