Table 1.

Summarized data regarding the efficacy/ineffective effects of probiotics in GI diseases.

Gastrointestinal Diseases/Disorders	Effect of Probiotics	Reference
Efficacy of probiotics in gastrointestinal diseases
Acute Bacterial Infectious Diarrhea	↓duration of the disease, ↓the risk of prolongation over four days	[28]
	↓ the number of daily stools
Traveler’s diarrhea	preventive effect	[29]
Acute viral diarrhea	no significant difference between the group of patients who received the probiotic containing Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and the control group	[30]
Diarrhea associated with antibiotic therapy	prevents or lessens the course of diarrhea	[33,34]
	↓stool frequency, ↑recovery, ↓disease duration	[40]
Helicobacter pylori Infection	adjunct to antibiotic therapy to eradicate Helicobacter pylori infection	[41]
Ulcerative Colitis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Functional Abdominal Pain	it cannot be concluded whether the use of probiotics has a general benefit in the evolution of these diseases.	[43]
	↑remission rate in adults with ulcerative colitis, not maintaining remission, ↓symptoms, ↑ quality of life	[45]
Chronic Constipation	↑ average number of stools per week	[46]
Necrotizing Enterocolitis	↓the risk of severe necrotizing enterocolitis, ↓ mortality	[47]
Hepatic encephalopathy	↓ risk of developing hepatic encephalopathy	[48]
Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis	↑liver function	[49]
Celiac Diseases, Non-celiac Gluten Sensitivity, Food Allergy	↑protection from gluten-induced pathology	[56]
	↑protection against peanut allergy	[60]
	↑ immune reactions, ↑levels of antibodies	[61]
Symptomatic uncomplicated diverticular disease	the therapeutic effect is not fully known	[66]
Ineffectiveness of probiotics in gastro-intestinal disease
Pancreatitis	Ineffective	[67]
Crohn’s disease	Insufficient evidence

Symbols: ↑ (increased), ↓ (decreased).