Trial reportAlimentary pharmacology & therapeutics2014
Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM affects colonic mucosal opioid receptor expression in patients with functional abdominal pain - a randomised clinical study.
Trial report in Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT01064661 (Physiological Effects of Probiotic Bacteria Lactobacillus Acidophilus NCFM Alone Versus a Combination With Bifidobacterium Lactids - LBi07 in Patients With Mild to Moderate Abdominal Pain/Discomfort and Bloating), which is not on this map. Cited by 33 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Physiological Effects of Probiotic Bacteria Lactobacillus Acidophilus NCFM Alone Versus a Combination With Bifidobacterium Lactids - LBi07 in Patients With Mild to Moderate Abdominal Pain/Discomfort and Bloating
Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 69 citations in OpenAlex.
- Altered molecular signature of the intestinal microbiota in irritable bowel syndrome patients versus healthy controls: An updated systematic review.Indian journal of gastroenterology : official journal of the Indian Society of Gastroenterology · 2026Pooled it
- Efficacy of Probiotics for Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2022Pooled it
- Enterochromaffin Cells: Sentinels to Gut Microbiota in Hyperalgesia?Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2021Pooled it
- Lactobacillus acidophilus for infant colic and microbiota modulation: a randomized clinical trial.BMC pediatrics · 2026Trial
- Evaluating the Impact of Probiotic Therapy on the Endocannabinoid System, Pain, Sleep and Fatigue: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial in Dancers.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Trial
- Evaluation of the effect of probiotic lozenges in the treatment of recurrent aphthous stomatitis: a randomized, controlled clinical trial.Clinical oral investigations · 2021Trial
- Trial
- Probiotics, Anticipation Stress, and the Acute Immune Response to Night Shift.Frontiers in immunology · 2020Trial
- Irritable bowel syndrome symptom severity improves equally with probiotic and placebo.World journal of gastroenterology · 2016Trial
- Abdominal Pain After Bariatric Surgery and the Role of the Gut: A Review.Diabetes therapy : research, treatment and education of diabetes and related disorders · 2026Review
- Gut Microbiota in Adults with Chronic Widespread Pain: A Systematic Review.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Review
- Neuroimmune interactions: The bridge between inflammatory bowel disease and the gut microbiota.Clinical and translational medicine · 2025Review
- Symphony of the gut microbiota and endocannabinoidome: a molecular and functional perspective.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025Review
- Abdominal Pain in Inflammatory Bowel Disease-Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, and Management: A Narrative Review.Pain and therapy · 2024Review
- A Synbiotic Combining Chitin-Glucan andInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Probiotics in Postoperative Pain Management.Journal of personalized medicine · 2023Review
- Goods and Bads of the Endocannabinoid System as a Therapeutic Target: Lessons Learned after 30 Years.Pharmacological reviews · 2023Review
- Fibromyalgia and Irritable Bowel Syndrome Interaction: A Possible Role for Gut Microbiota and Gut-Brain Axis.Biomedicines · 2023Review
- Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIn a recent double-blinded clinical trial, the probiotic combination of Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM (L-NCFM) and B-LBi07 reduced bloating symptoms in patients with functional bowel disorders; an effect more evident in those who reported abdominal pain. In mice, L-NCFM but not B-LBi07 induced colonic mu-opioid receptor (MOR) and cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2) expression, and reduced visceral sensitivity.
aimsTo determine if L-NCFM was the active component in the clinical trial and to investigate the mechanism of action in humans with mild to moderate abdominal pain.
methodsCaucasian women (n = 20) 18-70 years with mild to moderate abdominal pain were enrolled in a double-blind, two-armed, single-centre study. Patients were given either L-NCFM alone or in combination with B-LBi07 for 21 days at a total dose of 2 × 10(10) CFU b.d. Colonic biopsies were collected during unsedated, unprepped flexible sigmoidoscopy before and at the end of probiotic consumption. mRNA and immunostaining were then performed on these biopsies. Patients kept symptom diaries for the 7 days prior to starting probiotic therapy and for the last 7 days of therapy.
resultsL-NCFM alone, but not with B-LBi07, induced colonic MOR mRNA and protein expression, as well as downstream signalling, as measured by enterocyte STAT3-phosphorylation. In contrast, CB2 expression was decreased. Both treatment groups trended towards improvement in symptoms, but the study was insufficiently powered to draw meaningful conclusions.
conclusionsLactobacillus acidophilus NCFM modulates mu-opioid receptor expression and activity, while the combination of L-NCFM and B-LBi07 does not. This study provides a possible mechanism for action by which probiotics modulates pain sensation in humans (Clinical Trial Number: NCT01064661).
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Registered trials
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.