Beneficial effects of a synbiotic supplement on self-perceived gastrointestinal well-being and immunoinflammatory status of healthy adults.

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Gastrointestinal Agents in this randomized controlled trial publication.

This study was designed to evaluate the effects of a commercialized synbiotic product containing Lactobacillus acidophilus La5, Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis Bb-12, Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus, Lactobacillus paracasei ssp. paracasei, Streptococcus thermophilus, and fructooligosaccharides on the self-reported gastrointestinal well-being and the immunoinflammatory status of healthy human subjects.

Why It Was Studied

The use of synbiotics as health promoters is still poorly defined, and human intervention studies are scarce.

Blood lymphocyte subsets, phagocytic activity, serum C-reactive protein, ceruloplasmin, and adhesion molecules concentrations were analyzed prior and after treatment.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 20 women were involved.

The age groups tagged for this paper are adults and middle-aged adults, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Gastrointestinal Agents and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

As a double-blind Gastrointestinal Agents study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with Gastrointestinal Agents could be set against what happens without it.

Gastrointestinal symptoms and bowel habits were evaluated through a self-administered questionnaire.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Bifidobacterium, Digestion, Gastrointestinal Agents, Gastrointestinal Tract, Health Status, Immune System and Lactobacillus.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Gastrointestinal Agents in 20 women.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The publication is from 2011 (Journal of medicinal food), a journal based in United States.

More context: all human trials.