ArticleClinical and experimental hepatology2023
Efficacy of probiotics in the treatment of minimal hepatic encephalopathy: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Article in Clinical and experimental hepatology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 4 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
12 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparison of probiotics to lactulose for minimal hepatic encephalopathy in patients with cirrhosis: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Value of Probiotics on Outcome in Patients Following Liver Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Pooled it
- Effect of probiotics on prognosis in patients with hepatectomy: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trial.BMC pharmacology & toxicology · 2025Pooled it
- Probiotics are beneficial for liver cirrhosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized control trials.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Minimal Hepatic Encephalopathy: A Narrative Review.Cureus · 2026Review
- Microbiome and gut-liver interactions: From mechanisms to therapies.World journal of gastroenterology · 2025Review
- Microbial Approaches to Treat and Prevent Hepatic Encephalopathy.Gastroenterology clinics of North America · 2025Review
- Gut microbiome and its metabolites in liver cirrhosis: mechanisms and clinical implications.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025Review
- Infection, inflammation and hepatic encephalopathy from a clinical perspective.Metabolic brain disease · 2024Review
- Ammonia-induced stress response in liver disease progression and hepatic encephalopathy.Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2024Review
- Fecal microbiota transplantation in the treatment of hepatic encephalopathy: A perspective.World journal of hepatology · 2024Article
- Microbiota modifications in prehabilitation - the next step towards comprehensive preparation for surgery. The scoping review.Przeglad gastroenterologiczny · 2024Review
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
Aim of the study: Patients with minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) have no recognizable clinical symptoms of hepatic encephalopathy (HE), but the mild cognitive and psychomotor deficits have been shown to negatively affect their daily functioning and quality of life. Treatment with probiotics has shown benefit in some clinical trials. This review aimed to systematically analyze the efficacy of probiotics in the treatment of MHE. Material and methods: A systematic search of the electronic databases PubMed, Science Direct, and Cochrane Library was conducted for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in adult patients with MHE who had been given probiotics intervention. The primary outcomes were reversal of MHE and improvement of neuropsychometric tests, while the secondary outcome was the reduction of serum ammonia. Results: Nine RCTs involving 776 MHE patients were included, consisting of 311 patients receiving probiotics and 465 patients receiving comparator (placebo or no treatment, lactulose, L-ornithine L-aspartate [LOLA], or rifaximin). The meta-analysis showed that probiotics significantly reversed MHE (OR = 3.95, Conclusions: Probiotics were more effective in reversal of MHE and reduced serum ammonia levels in patients with MHE compared to placebo or no treatment, but not more effective than lactulose or LOLA.
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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.