Blackmores Institute

Designed to broadly evaluate the latest studies (up to April 2019) on the clinical outcomes of probiotic supplementation in adults with constipation the meta-analysis reviewed 15 randomised controlled trials and found that probiotic supplementation significantly reduces gut transit time (GTT).
 
 “Probiotic supplementation significantly reduces gut transit time, increases stool frequency, and improves stool consistency.”
 
 “In addition, multi-species probiotics have more significant beneficial effects on constipation symptoms than single-species probiotic,” the authors said.
 
 “Whole GTT and stool frequency are the main clinical indicators of constipation. Normal values for whole GTT and stool frequency are considered to be 30-40 h and three to 21 bowel movements per week, respectively. Hence, a decrease of 13.75 h and an increase of 1.3 bowel movements per week, respectively, could help alleviate functional constipation in adults.”
 
 “Our results show that the number of species (e.g., from Bifido- bacterium, Lactobacillus, and Streptococcus) significantly influence the effects of probiotics. Subgroup analysis revealed that multi-species probiotics are more effective in improving constipation symptoms (e.g., GTT, stool frequency, and stool consistency) than single-species formulas.”
 
 The review noted that this finding was consistent other studies that support superior health benefits of multi-species probiotic supplements, suggesting that probiotics exert strain- or species-specific effects on constipation and therefore the superior effects of multi-species probiotics may be attributable to synergistic interactions between individual probiotic strains with various therapeutic activities.
 
 “Results of our meta-analysis suggest that probiotic supplementation significantly reduces GTT,
 increases stool frequency, and improves stool consistency; however, the effects of probiotics on bloating are not statistically significant. In addition, multispecies probiotics have more significant
 beneficial effects on constipation symptoms than single-species probiotics.”
 
 Recommending future high-quality studies to determine the ideal number and combination of species or strains and their ideal dose for probiotic supplementation, the authors concluded that multi-species probiotics supplements are more beneficial than single species supplements.
 
 “In summary, probiotic supplementation can improve stool frequency, gut transit time, and stool consistency in adults with functional constipation. Future clinical studies with a superior study design and a large sample size that consider confounders that influence the gut microbial composition and the participant characteristics (baseline gut microbiota, country of origin, age, and other lifestyle factors), are warranted to develop clinical guidelines for the use of probiotics for the treatment of functional constipation.”
 
 Source:
 Clin Nutr. 2020. DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2020.01.005">10.1016/j.clnu.2020.01.005</a>

Multi-species probiotics can be regarded as safe and natural agents for alleviation of functional constipation in adults, a new review in the journal, Clinical Nutrition, has revealed.

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