Method :
This study was a randomized double-blind clinical trial involving 30 patients treated with ART at West Medical Center, Tehran, Iran, who had experienced immunological failure despite HIV viral suppression.
Patients were divided into two groups of 15. The first group received 2 probiotic capsules daily with a colony count of 10⁹CFU per capsule containing seven strains (including Lactobacillus casei , Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus rhamnosus , Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Bifidobacterium breve, Bifidobacterium longum , Streptococcus thermophiles with prebiotic froctooligosaccharide .
By the end of the month 3, patients were tested for CD4+ count using flow cytometry and were asked to fill questionnaires concerning the history of diarrhea or intake of the antibiotic, especially Cotrimoxazol .
after a one- month washout period the participants who had received probiotics were switched to placebo, and the participants who had received placebo were given probiotics for three months, and they were examined for CD4+ counts seven months after the start of the study.