The Effectiveness and Safety of Multi-Strain Probiotic Preparation in Patients with Diarrhea-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Randomized Controlled Study

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 13; no. 3; p. 756
• Main Authors: Skrzydło-Radomańska, Barbara, Prozorow-Król, Beata, Cichoż-Lach, Halina, Majsiak, Emilia, Bierła, Joanna Beata, Kanarek, Ewelina, Sowińska, Agnieszka, Cukrowska, Bożena
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 26-02-2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Abdomen; Adolescent; Adult; Adverse events; Aged; Antibiotics; Bifidobacterium; Bioethics; Constipation; Diarrhea; Diarrhea - microbiology; Diarrhea - therapy; Dietary supplements; Disease; Double-Blind Method; Drug dosages; Evaluation; Female; Humans; IBS-GIS; IBS-SSS; Intestine; Irritable bowel syndrome; Irritable Bowel Syndrome - microbiology; Irritable Bowel Syndrome - therapy; Lactobacillus; Male; Microbiota; Microorganisms; Middle Aged; Motility; Pain; Permeability; Placebos; Probiotics; Probiotics - therapeutic use; Quality of life; Severity of Illness Index; Streptococcus thermophilus; Substance abuse treatment; Treatment Outcome; Young Adult; Bifidobacterium; IBS-GIS; irritable bowel syndrome; IBS-SSS; Lactobacillus; probiotics
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu13030756

The aim of this randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of multi-strain probiotic in adults with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D). The patients were randomized to receive a mixture of
,
, and
strains or placebo for eight weeks. Primary endpoints included changes in symptom severity and improvement assessed with the IBS Severity Scoring System (IBS-SSS) and Global Improvement Scale (IBS-GIS). The probiotic in comparison with placebo significantly improved the IBS symptom severity (the change of total IBS-SSS score from baseline ‒165.8 ± 78.9 in the probiotic group and ‒105.6 ± 60.2 in the placebo group,
= 0.005) and in the specific scores related to the severity of pain (
= 0.015) and the quality of life (
= 0.016) after eight weeks of intervention. The probiotic group indicated an improvement in symptoms with the use of the IBS-GIS compared with the placebo group after four (
= 0.04) and eight weeks (
= 0.003). The occurrence of adverse events did not differ between study groups. In conclusion, the multi-strain probiotic intervention resulted in a significant improvement in IBS symptoms evaluated with the use of both IBS-SSS and IBS-GIS scales. The results suggest that the studied probiotic preparation is well tolerated and safe and can offer benefits for patients with IBS-D. (registration number in Clinicaltrials.gov NCT04662957).