Multispecies Probiotic Diminishes IBS Symptoms

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Researchers from UND School of Medicine and Mayo Clinic have conducted a clinical trial to determine whether using a multispecies probiotic could diminish the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
The researchers evaluated 25 patients with IBS as defined by Rome III criteria over a period of 60 days.

Patients were treated with a multispecies probiotic product (Multi-Flora Plus) containing Lactobacillus acidophilus (DDS-1 strain), bifidobacterium longum, bifidobacterium bifidum, and bifidobacterium lactis with a combined potency of 12 billion CFU/g. The study participants evaluated the severity of their symptoms on a scale of one to 10.

Improvements in the symptoms were significant after 60 days of treatment with 84 percent of the participants showing improvement in abdominal pain, 73.9 percent in bloating, 92 percent in belching, 88 percent in flatulence, 90.9 percent in diarrhea and 86.9 percent in constipation. No clinically evident side effects were observed.

Symptom Number of patients showing improvement at the end 30 days Percentage of patients after 30 days treatment Number of patients showing improvement at the end 60 days Percentage of patients after 60 days treatment
Abdominal pain 8/25 32% 21/25 84%
Bloating 12/25 48% 18/25 72%

Belching 13/25 52% 23/25 92%
Flatulence 7/25 28% 22/25 88%
Diarrhea* 17/22 77.27% 20/22 90.9%
Constipation** 19/23 82.6% 20/23 86.96%

*Diarrhea was noted in 22/25 patients, ** Constipation was noted in 23/25 patients

The gastrointestinal tract contains both pathogenic and normal commensal bacterial flora. It is possible that an alteration in the balance between commensals and pathogenic bacteria might be responsible for the excessive gas production and lead to a diverse group of symptoms which are similar to IBS. The results of this study are consistent with the idea that probiotic bacteria can help to keep pathogenic bacteria in check. This study has been submitted for publication.

Multi-Flora Probiotics are manufactured and marketed by UAS Laboratories, Inc. of Eden Prairie, MN.

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