Table 4.

Placebo controlled clinical trials of single or mixed probiotic preparations in IBS

Organism	n	Outcome	Reference
Studies in adult patients
S faecium	54	↓ Global score	Gade et al 216
Lactobacillus acidophilus	18	↓ Global score	Halpern et al 217
Lactobacillus plantarum 299V	60	↓ Flatulence	Nobaek et al 218
L plantarum 299V	20	↓ Pain, ‘all IBS symptoms’	Niedzielin et al 219
L plantarum 299V	12	Negative	Sen et al 220
L plantarum MF1298	16	Deterioration of symptoms	Ligaarden et al 221
L ramnosus GG	25	Negative	O'Sullivan et al 240
L reuterii ATCC 55730	54	Negative	Niv et al 223
L salivarius UCC4331	75	Negative	O'Mahony et al 215
Bifidobacterium infantis 35624	75	↓ Pain and composite score	O'Mahony et al 215
B infantis 35624	362	↓ Pain and composite score	Whorwell et al 224
B ifidobacterium lactis DN-173-010	274	↓ Digestive discomfort	Guyonnet et al 225
B lactis DN-173-010	34	↓ Maximum distension & pain	Agrawal et al 208
B ifidobacterium bifidum MIMBb75	122	↓ Global score	Guglielmetti et al 226
Bacillus coagulans GBI-30, 6086	52	↓ Bowel movements	Dolin222
Escherichia coli Nissle 1917	120	↑ Treatment satisfaction	Kruis et al 227
VSL#3® (x8)*	25	↓ Bloating	Kim et al 209
VSL#3® (x8)*	48	↓ Flatulence	Kim et al 210
Medilac DS® (x2)*	40	↓ Pain	Kim et al 228
Mixture (x4)*	103	↓ Global score	Kajander et al 229
Mixture (x4)*	86	↓ Global score	Kajander et al 214
LAB4 (x4)*	52	↓ Global score	Williams et al 230
Mixture (x4)*	106	Negative	Drouault-Holowacz et al 231
Mixture (x2)*	40	↓ Pain	Sinn et al 232
ProSymbioFlor® (x2)*	297	↓ Global score	Enck et al 233
Cultura® (x3)*	74	Negative	Simrén et al 234
Cultura® (x3)*	52	Negative	Sondergaard et al 235
Mixture (x4)*	70	↓ Pain	Hong et al 236
Studies in paediatric patients
L ramnosus GG	50	↓ Abdominal distension	Bausserman and Michail237
L ramnosus GG	104	↓ Pain	Gawronska et al 238
L ramnosus GG	141	↓ Pain	Francavilla et al 212
VSL#3® (x8)*	59	↓ Global score	Guandalini et al 239

*Number of organisms in a mixture.

n, number of randomised subjects.

IBS, irritable bowel syndrome; L ramnosus, Lactobacillus ramnosus; L reuterii, Lactobacillus reuterii; L salivarius, Lactobacillus salivarius; S faecium, Streptococcus faecium.