Table 2.
Critical results of network meta-analysis for abdominal pain and bloating in patients with IBS.
| Outcome | Efficacy Level A 1 | Efficacy Level B | Efficacy Level C | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Probiotic | NMA 2 | GRADE | Probiotic | NMA | GRADE | Probiotic | |
| Abdominal pain score | B. coagulans MTCC 5856 | −41.80 (−61.59, −22.00) |
M | L. gasseri BNR17 | −36.10 (−64.53, −7.67) |
M | BL + LR, L. acidophilus SDC 2012,2013, B. lactis UABla-12, BAL + LA + BB + X, LR + PF + X, LA + LR + ST + BL + BBR + X, B. bifidum MIMBb75, LP + LP + PA, LP + LC + BL + ST + LA + X, LA + LA, C. butyricum CGMCC0313.1, L. plantarum 299v, L. acidophilus ATCC 700396, L. casei LCR35, BAL + ST + LB, LPA + LA + BAL, BAL + LA + LR + X, S. boulardii CNCM I-475, B. infantis 35624, L. plantarum CCFM8610 |
| B. coagulans Unique IS2 | −32.00 (−45.35, −18.65) |
M |
L. plantarum Apsulloc 331261 |
−26.59 (−47.07, −6.11) |
M | ||
| L. acidophilus DDS-1 | −19.53 (−33.49, −5.57) |
M | |||||
| LPA + LS + LP | −20.00 (−35.97, −4.03) |
L | |||||
| S. cerevisiae CNCM I-3856 | −15.24 (−24.62, −5.87) |
M | |||||
| VSL#3 | −12.93 (−25.59, −0.26) |
L | |||||
| EF + LA + X | −11.37 (−21.68, −1.06) |
M | |||||
| LA + ST + X | −8.14 (−15.54, −0.75) |
M | |||||
| Abdominal bloating score | None | BL + LR | −34.00 (−56.94, −11.06) |
M | B. coagulans MTCC 5856, L. plantarum Apsulloc 331261, L. acidophilus DDS-1, LR + PF + X, LA + ST + X, B. coagulans Unique IS2, S. cerevisiae CNCM I-3856, BAL + LA + BB + X, B. lactis UABla-12, LP + LC + BL + ST + LA + X, EF + LA + X, LA + LR + ST + BL + BBR + X, L. acidophilus ATCC 700396, BAL + LA + LR + X, S. boulardii CNCM I-475, C. butyricum CGMCC0313.1, BAL + ST + LB, B. infantis 35624, LPA + LA + BAL | ||
| L. plantarum CCFM8610 | −19.92 (−34.91, −4.94) |
M | |||||
| L. plantarum 299v | −14.79 (−29.11, −0.48) |
M | |||||
| VSL#3 | −13.71 (−22.12, −5.30) |
L | |||||
| B. bifidum MIMBb75 | −11.83 (−22.93, −0.74) |
M | |||||
1 Efficacy level A (among the most effective): probiotics that are significantly superior to placebo and at least 1 probiotic in level B. Efficacy level B: probiotics that are more effective than placebo, but not superior to any other of the probiotic(s) superior to placebo. Efficacy level C (among the least effective): probiotics with no significant difference compared to placebo. 2 The network meta-analysis results were the efficacy of probiotics compared to placebo. Mean difference with 95% confidence intervals in parentheses. Abbreviations: GRADE, The Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation system; H, high; M, moderate; L, low.