• Yue Hu, Liyuan Tao, and Bin Lyu.
• Department of Gastroenterology, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou 310006, China.
• Zhonghua Nei Ke Za Zhi. 2015 May 1; 54 (5): 445-51.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the efficacy of probiotics to treat irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).MethodsPublications from database including PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Embase, CNKI, CBM and WanFang Data were searched up to August 31, 2014. The randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on probiotics to treat IBS were eligible. The related articles were extracted and cross-checked independently by two reviewers. Methodological quality of trials was evaluated according to Cochrane Handbook 5.1.0 criteria. Meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan 5.2 software.ResultsA total of 17 RCTs involving 1 700 patients were included. Results of meta-analyses showed that compared with the placebo, probiotics was statistically better in improving the overall symptoms integral (SMD = -0.20, 95% CI -0.33--0.07, P = 0.002), alleviating abdominal pain/discomfort (SMD = -0.19, 95% CI -0.29--0.09, P<0.001), relieving abdominal distention (SMD = -0.16, 95% CI -0.28--0.03, P = 0.020), and defecation discomfort (SMD = -0.22, 95% CI -0.42--0.02, P = 0.030). There was no statistical significance in the overall quality of life (SMD = -0.08, 95% CI -0.07-0.23, P = 0.290) and adverse effect ratio (RR = 1.08, 95% CI 0.79-1.49, P = 0.630).ConclusionProbiotics have beneficial effects on IBS, which can improve the patients' symptoms and with less adverse reaction. Due to the bias, further large-scale, multicenter and high-quality RCTs are required to unify outcome indicators, further define sensitive strain, and standardize its usage, dosage and course of treatment.

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