Co-administration of probiotic and vitamin D significantly improves cognitive function in schizophrenic patients: A double-blinded randomized controlled trial.

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in this randomized controlled trial publication.

Manipulation of the intestinal microbiome and supplying vitamin D can attenuate psychiatric symptoms in schizophrenic patients.

The current study tried to evaluate the effects of probiotic/vitamin D supplementation on the cognitive function and disease severity of schizophrenic patients.

Who Took Part

The study group was 70 patients.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were teenagers, young adults, adults, middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

In the present study, 70 patients (aged 18-65) with schizophrenia were recruited.

Severity of disease and cognitive function (primary outcomes) were evaluated by Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) tests, respectively.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

Because people in this Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Neither the patients nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

Some patients received a placebo instead of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, giving a reference point.

Moreover, lipid profile, body mass index (BMI), gastrointestinal (GI) problems, serum C-reactive protein (CRP), and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were evaluated as secondary outcomes.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Schizophrenia, Probiotics, Vitamin D, Cognition, Dietary Supplements and Schizophrenic Psychology.

Author keywords: cognitive function.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in 70 patients.

Results are reported in around 6 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2024 (Neuropsychopharmacology reports), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc compound page, all human trials.