Cell Biotech Announces Clinical Results for CBT Probiotics in CKD

Cell Biotech announced new clinical findings at HNC 2025 (Healthplex Expo 2025) in Shanghai, revealing that its proprietary 'CBT Probiotics' may help improve chronic kidney disease (CKD) symptoms. The results offer scientific support for the gut-kidney axis (a theory that gut health can influence kidney function) and have attracted significant attention from the global medical and healthcare communities.

The clinical study was conducted by researchers at Zvezdara University Hospital in Serbia, using Cell Biotech’s CBT Probiotics. It involved 34 pre-dialysis patients with chronic kidney disease (average glomerular filtration rate of 28.9 mL/min) and was carried out over a 12-week period as a randomized, double-blind trial. Participants were divided into two groups (17 received CBT Probiotics and 17 received a placebo) to evaluate the effects of the probiotics on key CKD indicators.

The strains used in the study were:

CBT-LA1 (KCTC 11906BP), CBT-LC5 (KCTC 12398BP), CBT-BL3 (KCTC 11904BP), All are patented strains used in DUOLAC’s major products.

The study found that participants in the CBT Probiotics group showed a 12.5% increase in glomerular filtration rate (GFR), a key indicator of kidney function. Levels of indoxyl sulfate, a uremic toxin, decreased by 21.5%, while high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), an inflammatory marker, dropped by 39.5%, compared to the placebo group.

These improvements suggest that CBT Probiotics may help delay the initiation of dialysis in CKD patients. Since dialysis typically requires lengthy treatments two to three times per week along with multiple medications, even delaying its onset can play a critical role in reducing the physical, psychological, and financial burden on patients.

Analysis of the gut microbiome also revealed positive changes. In the CBT Probiotics group, beneficial gut bacteria such as Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus increased significantly, and these changes were closely associated with improvements in uremic toxin levels and inflammatory markers.

Animal studies conducted by Cell Biotech further supported these findings, showing up to a 93% reduction in uremic toxin levels, with results superior to those of AST-120, a commonly used agent to delay dialysis in CKD patients.

These findings suggest that CBT Probiotics can influence kidney function both directly and indirectly by improving the gut environment, highlighting their strong potential as a functional food-based strategy for kidney health management.

Notably, this study holds significant value as it specifically targeted pre-dialysis patients with chronic kidney disease, providing clinical evidence that improvements in key health indicators can help delay the onset of dialysis and enhance patients’ quality of life.

The results have been published in the Journal of Renal Nutrition, a respected SCI-indexed international journal in nephrology and nutrition, further validating the study’s scientific credibility.

Kidney function typically declines gradually over several decades, often with minimal early symptoms, frequently leading to delayed diagnosis and increased disease severity. In the advanced stages, kidney transplantation or dialysis becomes inevitable, making effective health management strategies during the pre-dialysis phase increasingly important.

Cell Biotech’s R&D Center is committed to further research to elucidate mechanisms of action and develop functional probiotics for kidney health that are safe and exhibit minimal side effects.

A representative from Cell Biotech’s R&D Center stated,

“This study demonstrates that DUOLAC CBT Probiotics can improve key health indicators in chronic kidney disease patients, potentially delaying the start of dialysis and enhancing quality of life, providing a practical management strategy. Moving forward, we will continue to develop next-generation functional materials for kidney health and conduct research on probiotics targeting various diseases, delivering patient-centered health solutions.”

[References]

The Impact of Synbiotic Treatment on the Levels of Gut-Derived Uremic Toxins, Inflammation, and Gut Microbiome of Chronic Kidney Disease Patients-ARandomized Trial