Benefits
Immune markers after strenuous exercise
In a 28-day pilot in 16 healthy young men, white blood cell counts 10 minutes after hard exercise were higher than with placebo, and salivary IgA held up in both groups, but most other immune measures changed only within the treated group. In a 2-week trial in 16 soldiers, IL-10 and IFN-gamma changes only trended (p = 0.057) and no blood measure differed from placebo.
Immune cell activity in laboratory tests
When researchers added inactivated cells to human immune cells from healthy donors, T cells, NK cells and NKT cells showed signs of activation, and the cells released more of both immune-activating and anti-inflammatory signaling proteins. This was a single laboratory study funded by the strain's owner.
Mechanism of action
Immune cell activation in a dish
In cell culture, inactivated cells raised the early activation marker CD69 on several types of immune cells and increased IL-6, TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma along with the anti-inflammatory IL-10 and IL-1ra and the growth factor G-CSF. Whether this happens when the ingredient is swallowed is unknown.
Cell wall parts survive heat treatment
The study authors suggest that immune-signaling parts of the cell wall, such as lipoteichoic acid, are not damaged by inactivation, which would explain why dead cells still triggered responses in the laboratory.
Clinical trials
In vitro study: blood immune cells from healthy donors were cultured with inactivated GBI-30, 6086 cells for 24 hours. Three authors were employees of the sponsor, Ganeden. (Jensen et al. 2017, J Inflamm Res)
Human immune cells in a laboratory dish; no people took the ingredient.
The inactivated cells activated T, NK and NKT cells and raised both immune-activating cytokines (IL-1 beta, IL-6, IL-17A, TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma) and anti-inflammatory ones (IL-10, IL-1ra), plus G-CSF. These are laboratory results and do not show a benefit in people.
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot; 50 mg StaiMune (about 500 million inactivated cells) or placebo daily for 28 days, with immune markers measured at rest and after a hard treadmill session. Not PubMed-indexed. (Kalman et al. 2018, J Probiotics Health)
16 healthy young men, average age about 23 (14 completed per protocol).
Ten minutes after exercise, white blood cell counts were higher with StaiMune than with placebo, and salivary IgA was maintained in both groups. Most other immune changes were seen only within the StaiMune group rather than as differences from placebo. No serious adverse events were reported.
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial over 2 weeks. The abstract does not name the strain; a 2024 systematic review identifies it as inactivated GBI-30, 6086 at about 1 billion cells a day. (Hoffman et al. 2019, J Strength Cond Res)
16 male soldiers on the same self-defense training course (8 per group).
No performance or blood measure changed significantly compared with placebo. Vertical jump power (p = 0.089) and IL-10 and IFN-gamma (both p = 0.057) only trended. Using magnitude-based inference, the authors described the jump power and casualty drag changes as likely beneficial.