Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32274669›Full record

SynthesisDigestive diseases and sciences2021

Efficacy of Single-Strain Probiotics Versus Multi-Strain Mixtures: Systematic Review of Strain and Disease Specificity.

Lynne V McFarland

Abstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Digestive diseases and sciences, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 101 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
101citing papers in PubMed, 8 pooled it
11.8field-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

101 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 169 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  9. Trial
  10. Eight weeks of treatment with probioticFrontiers in nutrition · 2025
    Trial
  11. Trial
  12. Impact of oral administration of single strainFrontiers in immunology · 2022
    Trial
  13. Trial
  14. Review
  15. Review
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Article

41 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

1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.

Lynne V McFarlandDepartment of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of Washington, 6047 38th Avenue NE, Seattle, WA, 98115, USA. mcfarland.lynne.v@gmail.com.
University of Washington · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The diversity of probiotic products makes choosing an appropriate probiotic challenging. One unanswered question is whether single-strain probiotics are more effective than multi-strain mixtures. The aim of this review is to account for both disease and strain specificity to determine whether single strains or multiple strains are equivalent or more effective. This literature review of randomized controlled trials from 1973 to 2019 was used to compare the pooled efficacy of trials with a single strain versus the probiotic mixture with same matched strain within the same type of disease indication. A total of 65 RCTs were included (41 with single strains, 22 multi-strain mixtures and 2 comparing single strain to mixture arms) for eight different disease indications (N = 10,863). Only three strains (L. rhamnosus GG, L. helveticus R52 and B. lactis Bb12) had corresponding trials with matching mixtures. Use of L. rhamnosus GG only was significantly more protective for necrotizing enterocolitis compared to two mixtures also containing different strains of B. lactis. The mixture of L. rhamnosus GG and B. lactis Bb12 was significantly more effective than L. rhamnosus GG alone for the eradication of H. pylori. In most cases, single strains were equivalent to mixtures. Choice of an appropriate probiotic should be based, not on the number of strains in the product, rather based on evidence-based trials of efficacy. In most cases, multi-strain mixtures were not significantly more effective than single-strain probiotics.

Indexed as

Complex MixturesDigestive System DiseasesHumansProbioticsRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicTreatment OutcomeComplex MixturesAntibiotic-associated diarrheaH. pyloriNecrotizing enterocolitisProbioticsRandomized controlled trialsStrain specificity

Identifiers

PMID32274669
OpenAlexW3015440105

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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.