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Randomized trial · measured other health measures

6-week trial in 65 adults with diarrhea-type irritable bowel: no clear symptom difference

König and colleagues · PloS one · 2024

Original title: The effects of a 6-week intervention with Limosilactobacillus reuteri ATCC PTA 6475 alone and in combination with L. reuteri DSM 17938 on gut barrier function, immune markers, and symptoms in patients with IBS-D-An exploratory RCT.

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What the study found

No difference

Gut leak markers were not significantly affected. Both probiotic groups had fewer gut symptoms at 3 weeks (dual strain total score p = 0.032, pain p = 0.028). After six weeks, no symptom differed from placebo.

The study at a glance

Type of study
Randomized trial
Who or what was studied
65 people · 65 adults with IBS with diarrhea
What was tested
Limosilactobacillus reuteri ATCC PTA 6475 alone, or with L. reuteri DSM 17938, vs placebo for 6 weeks
What it measured
Several kinds of outcomes
How long
6 weeks
Trial registration
NCT03986476
Who has a stake
Company stake
Two authors are employed by BioGaia AB, which makes L. reuteri probiotics.
Journal
PloS one, 2024
Source
PubMed record 39485760. 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: 65 people.
  • –Short: 6 weeks. Longer-term effects are unknown.
  • •Measured several kinds of outcomes.
  • –Company stake: Two authors are employed by BioGaia AB, which makes L. reuteri probiotics.
  • •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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