Trial reportEuropean journal of nutrition2024
Effects of a prebiotic formulation on the composition of the faecal microbiota of people with functional constipation.
Trial report in European journal of nutrition, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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
4 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- Research progress and controversies in the treatment of functional constipation-related depression with probiotics and prebiotics: a narrative review.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Review
- Probiotics and prebiotics in the treatment of functional constipation in the elderly individuals.World journal of gastrointestinal pharmacology and therapeutics · 2025Review
- Gut microbiota-driven dysbiosis of the SCFA-immune axis in pediatric allergic rhinitis-constipation comorbidity: mechanisms and synbiotic remodeling.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Article
- Microbiota treatment of functional constipation: Current status and future prospects.World journal of hepatology · 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
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposePrebiotics are defined as substances which selectively promote beneficial gut microbes leading to a health benefit for the host. Limited trials have been carried out investigating their effect on the microbiota composition of individuals afflicted by functional constipation with equivocal outcomes. In a 21-day randomised, controlled clinical trial involving 61 adults with functional constipation, a prebiotic formulation with partially hydrolysed guar gum and acacia gum as its main ingredients, significantly increased complete spontaneous bowel motions in the treatment group. This follow-up exploratory analysis investigated whether the prebiotic was associated with changes to the composition, richness, and diversity of the faecal microbiota.
methodsParticipants provided a faecal specimen at baseline and on day 21 of the intervention period. Whole genome metagenomic shotgun sequencing comprehensively assessed taxonomic and functional composition of the microbiota.
resultsLinear mixed effects regression models adjusted for potential confounders showed a significant reduction in species richness of 28.15 species (95% CI - 49.86, - 6.43) and Shannon diversity of 0.29 units (95% CI - 0.56, - 0.02) over the trial period in the prebiotic group. These changes were not observed in the control group, and functional composition was unchanged in both groups.
conclusionIn adults with functional constipation, the intake of a prebiotic formulation was associated with a decline of species richness and Shannon diversity. Further research regarding the associations between prebiotics and the composition and function of the gut microbiota is warranted.
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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.