Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23842110›Full record

Trial reportGut microbes

Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 modulates host inflammatory processes beyond the gut.

David Groeger, Liam O'Mahony, Eileen F Murphy, John F Bourke, Timothy G Dinan, Barry Kiely, Fergus Shanahan, Eamonn M M Quigley

Open access · hybridAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Gut microbes. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 225 papers, 17 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
225citing papers in PubMed, 17 pooled it
10.7field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

225 citing papers in PubMed, 17 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 442 citations in OpenAlex.

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  3. Oral Probiotics inMedicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025
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165 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.

David GroegerAlimentary Health Ltd., Cork, Ireland.
Liam O'Mahony
Eileen F Murphy
John F Bourke
Timothy G Dinan
Barry Kiely
Fergus Shanahan
Eamonn M M Quigley
Alimentary Health (Ireland) · IEUniversity College Cork · IECork University Hospital · IESouth Infirmary Victoria University Hospital · IEUniversity of Zurich · CH

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Certain therapeutic microbes, including Bifidobacteria infantis (B. infantis) 35624 exert beneficial immunoregulatory effects by mimicking commensal-immune interactions; however, the value of these effects in patients with non-gastrointestinal inflammatory conditions remains unclear. In this study, we assessed the impact of oral administration of B. infantis 35624, for 6‒8 weeks on inflammatory biomarker and plasma cytokine levels in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) (n = 22), chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) (n = 48) and psoriasis (n = 26) in three separate randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled interventions. Additionally, the effect of B. infantis 35624 on immunological biomarkers in healthy subjects (n = 22) was assessed. At baseline, both gastrointestinal (UC) and non-gastrointestinal (CFS and psoriasis) patients had significantly increased plasma levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and the pro-inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) compared with healthy volunteers. B. infantis 35624 feeding resulted in reduced plasma CRP levels in all three inflammatory disorders compared with placebo. Interestingly, plasma TNF-α was reduced in CFS and psoriasis while IL-6 was reduced in UC and CFS. Furthermore, in healthy subjects, LPS-stimulated TNF-α and IL-6 secretion by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was significantly reduced in the B. infantis 35624-treated groups compared with placebo following eight weeks of feeding. These results demonstrate the ability of this microbe to reduce systemic pro-inflammatory biomarkers in both gastrointestinal and non-gastrointestinal conditions. In conclusion, these data show that the immunomodulatory effects of the microbiota in humans are not limited to the mucosal immune system but extend to the systemic immune system.

Indexed as

Administration, OralAdolescentAdultAgedBifidobacteriumColitis, UlcerativeC-Reactive ProteinCytokinesDouble-Blind MethodFatigue Syndrome, ChronicFemaleGastrointestinal TractHumansImmunosuppression TherapyMaleMiddle AgedC-Reactive ProteinCytokinesPlacebosB. infantis35624C-reactive proteinimmunityinflammationmicrobiota

Identifiers

PMID23842110
PMCPMC3744517
OpenAlexW2056812430

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.