Abstract

Ulcerative Colitis (UC) is considered a multifactorial disease, its prevalence and incidence may vary according to genetics, environment and intestinal microbiota, these factors alter the balance of the immune response of the intestinal mucosa and thus increase 2 the inflammation reaction. The use of probiotics has been studied as a therapeutic form that can help in the balance of the intestinal microbiota along with drug therapy, which can contribute to the remission of the disease. The present study is a narrative literature review that aims to evaluate the effectiveness of probiotics in treatment of UC as part of the diet. The most relevant studies published on the subject between 2004 and 2021 were analyzed using the MEDLINE (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online), SciELO (Scientific Electronic Library Online) and Cochrane Library databases. For the search strategy, the following combinations of keywords were used: ulcerative colitis, probiotics, inflammatory bowel diseases, gastrointestinal microbiome. To identify the study designs, the following terms were used: review and meta-analysis. The inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied based on the results obtained in the clinical trial in which they showed notable improvements in inflammation, characteristic of UC, after the consumption of probiotics. We identified 23 studies involving the efficacy of probiotics in the treatment of UC. However, only 13 met the inclusion criteria for this systematic review. The analyzed studies involved 1,046 patients aged 13 to 49 years of both genders. The present study demonstrated that the use of probiotics associated with drug therapy significantly contributes to the maintenance and clinical remission of UC, effectively contributing to in patient improvement.