Could probiotics be a breath of fresh air for COPD?

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: 1. Patients with a previously established diagnosis of COPD, regardless of the degree of airflow obstruction on pulmonary function testing. 2. Age over 18 years, regardless of sex. 3. Stable disease without exacerbations during the past two months (8 weeks). 4. Stable disease without changes to maintenance therapy during the past two months (8 weeks). 5. Patients with an mMRC score of 1 or higher. 6. Signed informed consent. Exclusion Criteria: 1. patients diagnosed with serious comorbidities such as severe cardiovascular diseases (severe heart failure, acute coronary syndrome, or percutaneous coronary intervention within 6 months, uncontrolled tachy/bradyarrhythmias), patients with severe renal failure and a placed central venous catheter, patients with severe liver damage (Child-Pugh class C), patients with infectious hepatitis or HIV, active bloody diarrhea; 2. patients undergoing active oncological and hematological treatment; 3. patients who have had a stroke within the past 3 months; 4. transplanted patients, including allograft recipients; 5. patients on long-term systemic corticosteroid and immunosuppressive therapy (oral or intravenous form) as well as antifungal therapy, 6. patients who have had a COPD exacerbation within the past two months and are not in a stable condition, 7. patients diagnosed with asthma, 8. patients with a history of lung surgery or serious respiratory diseases other than COPD (active tuberculosis, sarcoidosis, pulmonary fibrosis, severe bronchiectasis, pulmonary aspergillosis, etc.), 9. patients who have recently participated in other clinical trials or have received experimental therapy, 10. patients with a history of severe allergic reactions or hypersensitivity to the components of the probiotic preparation, 11. patients with active alcoholism or drug addiction, 12. patients with severe psychiatric diagnoses or those with significant physical or cognitive limitations that would interfere with following the study protocol, 13. patients who have recently undergone surgery, 14. pregnant or breastfeeding women, 15. patients who have taken any probiotic preparations within one month before the start of the study, 16. patients whose COPD treatment is changed during the course of the study.