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Randomized trial · measured other health measures

4-week trial in 104 adults with irritable bowel: probiotic gave no clear symptom change

Staudacher and colleagues · Gastroenterology · 2017

Original title: A Diet Low in FODMAPs Reduces Symptoms in Patients With Irritable Bowel Syndrome and A Probiotic Restores Bifidobacterium Species: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

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What the study found

No difference

IBS symptom score did not differ between probiotic (207 ± 98) and placebo (192 ± 93) (P = .721). Stool Bifidobacterium was higher with probiotic (9.1 rRNA genes/g) than placebo (8.8) (P = .019).

The study at a glance

Type of study
Randomized trial
Who or what was studied
104 people · 104 adults with IBS
What was tested
A multi-strain probiotic vs placebo, crossed with a low FODMAP diet vs a sham diet, for 4 weeks
What it measured
Several kinds of outcomes
How long
4 weeks
Trial registration
ISRCTN02275221
Who has a stake
No disclosure in PubMed
No disclosure in PubMed; funded by the UK Department of Health.
Journal
Gastroenterology, 2017
Source
PubMed record 28625832. This page is based on the abstract only.

How much this study counts

  • ✓Randomized: people were put into groups by chance, so the groups start out alike.
  • ✓Compared with a placebo, a dummy treatment.
  • •Medium size: 104 people.
  • –Short: 4 weeks. Longer-term effects are unknown.
  • •Measured several kinds of outcomes.
  • •The PubMed record has no conflict-of-interest statement.
  • •Summarized from the PubMed abstract only. The full paper may hold details the abstract leaves out.

✓ Strength– Limit• Note

These points come from fixed rules about the type of study, its size and length, what it measured, and who has a stake. Every study on Digestery gets the same rules.

Where this study sits

Each dot is one on-topic paper on this question. Steps near the top answer the question more directly.

↑ Stronger evidence

  1. Trials in people: gut symptoms such as bloating and IBS

    9

    5 benefit, 2 mixed, 2 no difference

  2. Trials in people: other measures

    10

    4 benefit, 2 mixed, 4 no difference

    ↑ This study is the ringed dot

  3. Trials in people: lab tests or safety

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  4. Population studies

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  5. Blood levels and genes

    0

    None among the papers we read.

↓ Weaker evidence

  • Points to benefit
  • Mixed
  • No difference
  • No direction
  • Points to harm

How it fits with the other research

The short answer to “Do probiotics improve gut health?”

Some strains may help some symptoms.

Confidence: low. Based on 28 on-topic papers.

Read the full answer

Of the other 9 papers on the same step: 4 benefit, 2 mixed, 3 no difference. This one found no difference.

Other papers on the same step

See all 28 studies on this question

How this page was made

Label

First read of the abstract
Claude Sonnet
Independent second read
Claude Haiku
Differences settled
The two reads agreed on every checked field. Claude Opus 5.5.
Headline
Claude Sonnet, from the checked study record. A script checked its numbers and wording.
Numbers
Checked against the abstract by a script
“How much this study counts”
Fixed rules, the same for every study
Source check by a person
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