Trial reportBMC gastroenterology2018
A randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial of a multi-strain probiotic formulation (Bio-Kult®) in the management of diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome.
Trial report in BMC gastroenterology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 62 papers, 10 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.
Supplementation With a Multi-strain Probiotic Formulation (Bio-Kult®) in the Management of Diarrhea-predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome - a Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Clinical Trial
Understanding the Neurocognitive Effects of Fecal Microbiota Transplantation in Major Depressive Disorder Patients With and Without Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Who cites it
62 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 102 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of multistrain probiotics on symptom severity in irritable bowel syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis of irritable bowel syndrome-symptom severity score outcomes.European journal of gastroenterology & hepatology · 2026Pooled it
- Research status and development trends of probiotics in clinical applications.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The efficacy of probiotics in the management of intra-oral halitosis: a systematic review.Clinical oral investigations · 2022Pooled it
- AGA Technical Review on the Role of Probiotics in the Management of Gastrointestinal Disorders.Gastroenterology · 2020Guideline
- Efficacy and Safety of Probiotics, Prebiotics and Synbiotics in the Treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Sultan Qaboos University medical journal · 2020Pooled it
- Efficacy and Safety of Probiotics in Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2020Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of probiotics in irritable bowel syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Saudi journal of gastroenterology : official journal of the Saudi Gastroenterology AssociationPooled it
- Trial
- Effect of PostbioticNutrients · 2024Trial
- Trial
- A randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial on Lactobacillus-containing cultured milk drink as adjuvant therapy for depression in irritable bowel syndrome.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- Efficacy and dose response ofWorld journal of gastroenterology · 2023Trial
- Effect of a Multistrain Probiotic on Leaky Gut in Patients with Diarrhea-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Pilot Study.Digestive diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Trial
- An insight into the functional alterations in the gut microbiome of healthy adults in response to a multi-strain probiotic intake: a single arm open label trial.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2023Trial
- Adjunctive treatment with probiotics partially alleviates symptoms and reduces inflammation in patients with irritable bowel syndrome.European journal of nutrition · 2021Trial
- Trial
- Trial
2 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAccumulating evidence supports the view that an imbalance of gut bacteria contributes to IBS, and that increasing the mass of beneficial species may reduce the numbers of pathogenic bacteria and help alleviate symptoms.
methodsIn this double-blind trial 400 adult patients with moderate-to-severe symptomatic diarrhea-predominant IBS (IBS-D) were randomized to treatment with the multi-strain probiotic Bio-Kult® (14 different bacterial strains) or placebo for 16 weeks. The change in severity and frequency of abdominal pain was the primary outcome measure.
resultsProbiotic treatment significantly improved the severity of abdominal pain in patients with IBS-D. A 69% reduction for probiotic versus 47% for placebo (p < 0.001) equates to a 145 point reduction on the IBS-severity scoring system (IBS-SSS). The proportion of patients who rated their symptoms as moderate-to-severe was reduced from 100% at baseline to 14% for the multi-strain probiotic at follow-up (month 5) versus 48% for placebo (p < 0.001). Also, the number of bowel motions per day from month 2 onwards was significantly reduced in the probiotic group compared with the placebo group (p < 0.05). In addition to relieving symptoms, the probiotic markedly improved all dimensions of quality of life in the 34-item IBS-Quality of Life (IBS-QoL) questionnaire. No serious adverse events were reported.
conclusionsThe multi-strain probiotic was associated with significant improvement in symptoms in patients with IBS-D and was well-tolerated. These results suggest that probiotics confer a benefit in IBS-D patients which deserves further investigation.
trial registration[Clinicaltrials.gov NCT03251625 ; retrospectively registered on August 9, 2017].
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Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.