ArticleEClinicalMedicine2021
Strain-specific and outcome-specific efficacy of probiotics for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Article in EClinicalMedicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
42 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Efficacy of Specific Probiotic Strains in Subtypes of Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Pooled it
- Probiotics and gastrointestinal disorders: an umbrella meta-analysis of therapeutic efficacy.European journal of medical research · 2025Pooled it
- The effect of probiotics on the diarrhea and constipation outcomes in children: an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Changes in Fecal Short-Chain Fatty Acids in IBS Patients and Effects of Different Interventions: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Nutrients · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Using probiotic supplementation to support bone health in postmenopausal women: a randomized, double-blind, parallel, placebo-controlled, multi-center study.Archives of osteoporosis · 2025Trial
- Efficacy and dose response ofWorld journal of gastroenterology · 2023Trial
- Trial
- Administration of probiotics to healthy volunteers: effects on reactivity of intestinal mucosa and systemic leukocytes.BMC gastroenterology · 2022Trial
- Trial
- Strain-resolved metabolomic chemotyping identifies tryptophan and γ-glutamyl peptides as MGO-AGEs breaking postbiotic compounds for carbonyl stress mitigation.Gut microbes · 2026Article
- Defined human Clostridia consortia reverse colitis via dual effects of tryptophan metabolites on microbiota and immunity.Cell host & microbe · 2026Article
- Gut Mycobiota-Associated Tryptophan Catabolites Protect Against Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Specificity vs. Synergy Between Single-Strain and Multi-Strain Probiotics for Ulcerative Colitis Treatment: A Review of the Literature.Biomedicines · 2026Review
- Microecological Interventions against Antibiotic-Induced Dysbiosis and Related Resistome Expansion.Journal of microbiology and biotechnology · 2026Review
- Strain-Specific Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis of Probiotics Efficacy in the Treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Oral supplementation with Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 6.2 in rats enhances bone and epithelial tissue repair by inhibiting NF-κB protein and promoting extracellular matrix synthesis via TGF-β.Brazilian journal of microbiology : [publication of the Brazilian Society for Microbiology] · 2026Article
- Predicting probiotic success: lessons from Oxalobacter and oxalate metabolism.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2026Review
- Gestational constipation and the gut microbiota: mechanisms, interventions, and implications for maternal and offspring health.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Review
- Probiotics in irritable bowel syndrome: strain-specific effects, diet, and biomarker timing.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundConsistent guidance for choosing an appropriate probiotic for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome is lacking.
methodsLiterature databases searched included: PubMed, Google Scholar and NIH registry of clinical trials from inception to June 2021. Inclusion criteria: randomized controlled trials (RCTs) enrolling adult or pediatric IBS patients comparing probiotics against controls and ≥ 2 RCTs with common IBS outcome measures within each type of probiotic. Five common measures of IBS symptoms (changes in global Irritable Bowel Syndrome Severity Scoring System or IBS-SSS scores, frequency of global responders, changes in bloating or abdominal pain scores and frequency of abdominal pain relief) were used. This study was registered at Prospero (#CRD42018109169).
findingsWe screened 521 studies and included 42 randomized controlled trials (45 treatment arms,
interpretationAlthough the analysis of probiotic efficacy was limited by the diversity of IBS outcomes used in trials and lack of confirmatory trials for some strains, six single-strain probiotics and three different types of probiotic mixtures showed significant efficacy for at least one IBS outcome measure. These results might be relevant to clinical practice and policy.
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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.