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Randomized trial · measured the question itself

6-week trial in 330 adults with irritable bowel: two probiotic strains eased belly pain

Martoni and colleagues · Nutrients · 2020

Original title: Lactobacillus acidophilus DDS-1 and Bifidobacterium lactis UABla-12 Improve Abdominal Pain Severity and Symptomology in Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Randomized Controlled Trial.

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What the study found

Points to benefit

Belly pain score fell more than placebo with DDS-1 (-2.59 ± 2.07, p = 0.001) and UABla-12 (-1.56 ± 1.83, p = 0.001). IBS symptom score fell -133.4 ± 95.19 and -104.5 ± 96.08 (p < 0.001).

The study at a glance

Type of study
Randomized trial
Who or what was studied
330 people · 330 adults aged 18 to 70 with IBS
What was tested
Lactobacillus acidophilus DDS-1 or Bifidobacterium animalis lactis UABla-12, each 1 × 1010 CFU a day, vs placebo for 6 weeks
What it measured
The question itself: gut symptoms such as bloating, pain and irregular bowels
Daily amount
1e+10 CFU a day
How long
6 weeks
Who has a stake
Company stake
Two authors work for UAS Laboratories but were not involved in running the study or the statistics.
Journal
Nutrients, 2020
Source
PubMed record 32019158. 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.
  • ✓Large: 330 people.
  • –Short: 6 weeks. Longer-term effects are unknown.
  • ✓Measured the question itself: gut symptoms such as bloating, pain and irregular bowels.
  • –Company stake: Two authors work for UAS Laboratories but were not involved in running the study or the statistics.
  • •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

    ↑ This study is the ringed dot

  2. Trials in people: other measures

    10

    4 benefit, 2 mixed, 4 no difference

  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 8 papers on the same step: 4 benefit, 2 mixed, 2 no difference. This one found benefit.

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 reviewer corrected 1 field after reading the abstract. 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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