Background
A randomized study in France demonstrated that a 30-day treatment with the probiotic Bifidobacterium longum 35624 resulted in a significant improvement in symptoms for approximately two thirds of patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
This improvement was also seen in patients who had the most severe symptoms at baseline.
In addition, patients reported that their quality of life was better after the treatment.
Why Is This Important?
Depending on which criteria are used (Rome III or Rome IV), IBS can be said to affect anywhere from 4%–10% of the population. The disorder may be responsible for impairment in quality of life, especially for the 1 in 4 patients who has the most severe form. Several lines of evidence suggest that the intestinal microbiota plays a role in the pathophysiology of IBS — and this is where the interest in probiotic therapy comes in.
That said, very few probiotics have shown efficacy in improving IBS symptoms, relative to placebo, in randomized double-blind studies. Among those that have shown efficacy is B longum35624. The research in question shows the value of specifying the level of disease severity at baseline and of using Rome IV criteria to describe the symptoms, an approach that not many other studies have taken.
