Meta-analysis of probiotics for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome

Table 1 Description of 20 randomized, controlled trials of probiotics for IBS included in systematic review

Reference	Probiotic	Type of control	Number of subjects randomized	Number analyzed	Dose (cfu/d)	Duration of treatment (wk)	% attrition
Maupas[45]	Saccharomyces cerevisiae boulardii lyo	Placebo capsules	34	34	9 × 109	4	0
Gade[46]	Streptococcus faecium 40371	Placebo tablets	58	54	1 × 1012	4	7
Halpern[47]	L. acidophilus (heat killed)“Lacteol Fort”	Placebo capsules	29	18	2 × 1010	6	38
Nobaek[48]	Lactobacillus plantarum DSM9843, in rose hip drink	Placebo plain rose hip drink	60	52	5 × 107	4	13
O'Sullivan[49]	Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG	Placebo tablets	24	19	1 × 1010	8	21
Niedzielin[50]	Lactobacillus plantarum 299v, “ProViva” drink	Placebo drink	40	40	2 × 1010	4	0
Kim[51]	VSL#3 (mix of 8 strains) powder packet1	Placebo powder	25	25	9 × 1011	8	4
Bausserman[52]	Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG	Placebo capsules	58	50	2 × 1010	6	22
Bittner[53]	Prescript-assist® 29 soil strains and prebiotic “leonardite”	Placebo capsules	27	25	2.6 × 108	2	7
Kajander[54]	L. rhamnosus GG + L. rham. LC705 + Bifido. breve Bb99 +Prop. freudenreichii	Placebo capsules	103	81	8-9 × 109	24	21
Kim[55]	VSL#3 yogurt1	Placebo yogurt	48	48	8 × 109	4	0
Niv[56]	Lactobacillus reuteri 55730	Placebo capsules	54	39	2 × 108	24	28
O’Mahony[17]	L. salivaricus UCC4331	Placebo drink	54	51	1 × 1010	8	16
O’Mahony[17]	Bifido. infantis 35624	Placebo drink	53	49	1 × 1010	8	16
Kim[57]	B. subtilus + Strept. faecalis	Placebo capsules	40	34	3 × 1010	4	15
Simren[58]	L. plantarum 299v in rose hip drink	plain rose hip drink	66	58	2 × 109	6	12
Whorwell[35]	Bifido. infantis 35624 in 3 doses	Placebo capsules	362	292	1 × 106	4	19
					1 × 108
					1 × 1010
Enck[59]	E. coli + Strept faecalis drink	Placebo drink	297	264	4.5 × 102	8	11
Gawronska[60]	L. rhamnosus GG	Placebo capsules	37	37	6 × 109	4	0
Marteau[61]	Bifido. longum, Lact acidophilus, Lactococcus lactis, Strept. thermophilus	Placebo capsules	106	100	1 × 1010	4	6
Simren[62]	Lact. paracasei, Lact acidophilus, Bifido. lactis in yoghurt	Control milk	74	67	2 × 1010	8	9

IBS: Irritable bowel syndrome; cfu/d: Colony forming units per day; Bifido.: Bifidobacterium; B.: Bacillus; E.: Escherichia; L.: Lactobacillus; Prop.: Propionibacterium.

¹VSL#3 is a mixture of 8 probiotic strains (Lactobacillus casei, L. plantarum, L. acidophilus, L. bulgaricus, Bifido. longum, Bifido. breve, Bifido. infantis and Streptococcus thermophilus).