Trial reportNutrients2024
The Effectiveness of Heat-Killed
Trial report in Nutrients, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 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
6 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Comparative efficacy of nutritional supplements for the prevention of respiratory tract infections in children: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Pooled it
- Postbiotics Formulation and Therapeutic Effect in Inflammation: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2025Pooled it
- Postbiotics: An Overview and Recommendations for Improved Reporting.Molecular nutrition & food research · 2026Review
- Current Understanding of Probiotic Strains and Immune Function: From Gut Microbiota to Systemic Immunity.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Oral Administration of Heat-Killed Multi-Strain Probiotics Confers Durable Protection Against Antibiotic-Resistant Primary and Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections in a Murine Model.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The impact of environmental factors on respiratory tract microbiome and respiratory system diseases.European journal of medical research · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
20 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPreterm infants discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) have a risk of severe viral respiratory tract infections (RTIs). Researchers have recently reported the potential use of postbiotics to decrease RTIs in young children. However, the safety and efficacy of postbiotics for preventing RTIs in preterm infants is not yet established.
methodsWe conducted a pilot double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study of the heat-killed lactic acid bacterium
resultsFollowing once-daily K15 or placebo treatment for one year, no significant differences were found in the mean number of febrile days (4.5 [1.5-7.4] days vs. 6.6 [2.6-10.5] days). The subgroup analysis showed that the effect of treatment on the number of febrile days was more prominent in the K15 group than in the placebo group, among children with older siblings. The 16S rRNA gene sequencing of fecal samples illustrated that the genus
conclusionThere were no clear data to show the effectiveness of K15 in preventing fever and RTIs in preterm babies during infancy. A larger clinical trial is warranted.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.