Efficacy of Cholesterol-lowering L. Plantarum on Cardiometabolic Health Biomarkers in Coeliac Disease Patients

A total of 50 coeliac subjects (+/- 6 additional volunteers) will be recruited to achieve statistical significance with changes on a logarithmic scale of 1.2 for cholesterol based on other interventional studies using focused probiotics on the reduction of the lipid picture. Based on these calculations, 10 coeliac subjects are required for each study group. The Mann-Whitney U test will be used to compare variables that are not normally distributed. GraphPad Prism Version 9.0 (GraphPad Software, Inc., San Diego, CA, USA) will be used for statistical analysis. All patients with coeliac disease will be recruited at Roehampton until the set target by the Protocol (at least 25 patients will be enrolled). This is to ensure we have an acceptable number of patients that can be monitored, net of subjects lost to follow up (drop-out). A random generator (GraphPad QuickCalcs, San Diego, CA, USA) will be used in order to assign a specific number to each patient and ensure double-blind randomization of the 50 patients in two study groups. Patients will be stratified by gender and randomly assigned to one of the two treatment groups using a 2: 1 ratio due to the higher prevalence of female sex in coeliac patients.

Inclusion criteria

• Adults aged between 18 and 65 years, with CD Diagnosis
• Fasting blood glucose level not above 5.6-6.9mmol/L
• High baseline cholesterol (TC> 6mmol / L).
• HbA1c below 5.7%
• With cholesterol
• For intervention purposes, eligible participants are also required to have a mobile phone and be able to read and speak English.

Exclusion criteria

• People with comorbid conditions that may limit participation in the study, such as a history of an acute cardiovascular event, uncontrolled hypertension, cancer or major psychiatric or cognitive problems
• People who are already participating in a weight loss programme
• People receiving drug treatment for lipid metabolisms (e.g., statins
• People with a history of long-term use of medicines known to influence glucose metabolism (e.g., corticosteroids)
• People with elevated liver enzymes (alanine aminotransferase ≥300 IU/L, aspartate aminotransferase ≥300 IU/L)
• People who take antibiotics or bacterial agents (Probiotics) within 1 month
• Pregnant women, women ready for pregnancy, and nursing mothers

All capsules (probiotic and placebo) have the same taste and appearance and have been mixed, encapsulated and packaged to ensure product consistency throughout the study. All capsules will be distributed free of charge to participants in this study.