Trial reportDigestive diseases and sciences2018
Probiotics Ameliorate Stool Consistency in Patients with Chronic Constipation: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study.
Trial report in Digestive diseases and sciences, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers, 2 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 64 citations in OpenAlex.
- Clinical efficacy of non-pharmacological treatment of functional constipation: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025Pooled it
- AGA Technical Review on the Role of Probiotics in the Management of Gastrointestinal Disorders.Gastroenterology · 2020Guideline
- Weizmannia coagulans BC99 improved intestinal motility and chronic constipation through regulating gut microbiota: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.European journal of nutrition · 2026Trial
- Impact of Probiotic Formula (Lacto-5X) on Constipation: Improvements in Gastrointestinal Symptoms, Gut Microbiome, and Metabolites.Journal of microbiology and biotechnology · 2025Trial
- Effect of Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus IDCC 3201 on irritable bowel syndrome with constipation: a randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- Evaluating the Effect ofNutrients · 2024Trial
- Effect of Bacillus coagulans Unique IS2 with Lactulose on Functional Constipation in Adults: a Double-Blind Placebo Controlled Study.Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins · 2023Trial
- Trial
- Addition of probiotics to antibiotics improves the clinical course of pneumonia in young people without comorbidities: a randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Bacillus coagulans Unique IS2 in Constipation: A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study.Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins · 2020Trial
- Efficacy of acupuncture for patients with Parkinson's disease-related constipation: study protocol for a randomized controlled, double-blind trial.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Article
- Placebo response variability on health-related quality of life outcomes in irritable bowel syndrome: an arm-based network meta-analysis.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2025Review
- Bifidobacterium Lactobacillus Triple Viable Alleviates Slow Transit Constipation by Regulating Gut Microbiota and Metabolism.Journal of gastroenterology and hepatology · 2025Article
- A Review of the Influence of Prebiotics, Probiotics, Synbiotics, and Postbiotics on the Human Gut Microbiome and Intestinal Integrity.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- New Insights into a Conceptual Bionic Colonic Bioreactor: A Model, 'Probiotics in Human Colon', Showing How Probiotics Alleviate Constipation from a Bioprocess Engineering Perspective.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- The role of probiotics in modulation of the gut-brain axis: a prospective therapy for depression and mood disorders.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Review
- Microbiota treatment of functional constipation: Current status and future prospects.World journal of hepatology · 2024Review
- Prebiotics and Probiotics for Gastrointestinal Disorders.Nutrients · 2024Review
- Unveiling the therapeutic symphony of probiotics, prebiotics, and postbiotics in gut-immune harmony.Frontiers in nutrition · 2024Review
- Recent advances in probiotication of fruit and vegetable juices.Journal of advanced veterinary and animal research · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND/
aimsThe efficacy of probiotics for improving clinical symptoms, altering the fecal microbiota, and regulating serum immune cytokine levels was investigated in patients with irritable bowel syndrome-constipation (IBS-C) or functional constipation (FC).
methodsA randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted at Kyung Hee University Hospital between October 2016 and February 2017. Consecutive 18-75-year-old patients with diagnosis of IBS-C or FC (based on Rome IV criteria) consumed probiotics (3.0 × 10
resultsStool consistency measured by the Bristol Stool Form Scale was significantly better in the probiotic group (n = 88) than in the placebo group (n = 83) at 4 and 8 weeks (3.7 ± 1.1 vs. 3.1 ± 1.1 at 8 weeks, P = 0.002). No significant difference was found in CSBM. The quality of life was significantly better in the probiotic group than in the placebo group at 4 weeks (P = 0.044) and 8 weeks (P = 0.049). The relative abundance of L. plantarum among the fecal microbiomes was significantly greater in the probiotic group than in the placebo group at 4 weeks (P = 0.029). However, the levels of other microbiomes and of serum cytokines (IL-10/IL-12 ratio and TNF-α) did not differ significantly between the two groups.
conclusionsProbiotics significantly ameliorated stool consistency in patients with chronic constipation. In addition, the beneficial effect of L. plantarum on stool consistency remained after the probiotic supplementation was discontinued. The mechanism whereby probiotics benefit patients with chronic constipation should be clarified in further studies.
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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.