Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40008156›Full record

ArticleTopics in spinal cord injury rehabilitation2025

No Beneficial Effects of the Alfasigma VSL#3 Probiotic Treatment After Cervical Spinal Cord Injury in Rats.

Pamela J F Raposo, Antoinette T Nguyen, Emma K A Schmidt, Abel Torres Espin, Keith K Fenrich, David J Bennett, Karim Fouad

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Topics in spinal cord injury rehabilitation, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Review
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

7 authors.

Pamela J F RaposoDepartment of Physical Therapy, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Antoinette T NguyenDepartment of Physical Therapy, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Emma K A SchmidtNeuroscience and Mental Health Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Abel Torres EspinSchool of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Canada.
Keith K FenrichFaculty of Rehabilitation, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
David J BennettFaculty of Rehabilitation, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Karim FouadDepartment of Physical Therapy, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: The bidirectional communication between the gastrointestinal tract and the central nervous system appears to be linked to the intestinal microbiome. Research has shown that spinal cord injury (SCI) can disrupt the gut microbiome, leading to gut dysbiosis. These changes can have several negative impacts, such as exacerbated systemic inflammation and susceptibility to infection. Probiotics administered to mice with SCI have been shown to ameliorate gut dysbiosis, confer neuroprotection, and improve locomotor recovery. However, probiotics have also produced conflicting results, making potential claims regarding the application of probiotics as a therapeutic supplement ambiguous. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the effects of a commercially available probiotic on recovery in a rat model of cervical SCI. Methods: Rats with cervical contusion SCI received probiotics over 7 days immediately after injury, and their recovery in motor, sensory, and cognitive tasks was compared to that of untreated animals. Results: Compared with a control group, the oral administration of probiotics influenced neither motor nor cognitive outcomes. We did observe a significantly different lesion size between the two groups, where the probiotic group had less spared tissue, despite a lack of differences in functional outcomes. In addition, probiotic treatment delayed gut microbiome composition recovery to baseline levels for up to 35 days postinjury (DPI). We found significantly higher proportions of Conclusion: Taken together, our results do not support the application of the utilized probiotic cocktail as a dietary supplement for the treatment of cervical SCI-induced gut dysbiosis and secondary complications.

Indexed as

Gastrointestinal MicrobiomeProbioticsSpinal Cord InjuriesAnimalsCervical CordCervical VertebraeDisease Models, AnimalDysbiosisFemaleRatsRats, Sprague-DawleyRecovery of Functioncervical contusiongut microbiomeprobioticsrat modelspinal cord injury

Identifiers

PMID40008156
PMCPMC11848136

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.