Gastroenterology Research and Practice

Clinical Study

The Therapeutic Effect of a Multistrain Probiotic on Diarrhea-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Pilot Study

Table 2

Fecal microbiome analysis before and after probiotic ingestion.


	Group	Mean ± SD		value	95% CI
	Group	Baseline	8 weeks	value	95% CI

Observed OTUs (ChaO1)	FAS	251.1 ± 60.7	198.7 ± 63.0	0.017	−93.8, −11.2
Observed OTUs (ChaO1)	PPS	245.8 ± 61.2	188.1 ± 55.1	0.017	−102, −13.3
Beneficial bacteria	FAS	42.9 ± 16.9	54.3 ± 14.6	0.020	2.3, 20.6
Beneficial bacteria	PPS	41.2 ± 16.8	53.7 ± 15.3	0.018	2.7, 22.5
Deleterious bacteria	FAS	12.5 ± 13.3	4.9 ± 3.8	0.010	−19.5, −0.7
Deleterious bacteria	PPS	13.0 ± 13.9	4.7 ± 4.0	0.010	−19.2, −0.8
Lactic acid bacteria	FAS	0.89 ± 1.0	4.2 ± 5.1	0.010	0.3, 8.9
Lactic acid bacteria	PPS	1.03 ± 1.0	4.56 ± 5.16	0.010	0.553, 8.9

Beneficial bacteria were defined as genera, which are beneficial to health such as Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus. Deleterious bacteria were defined as genera, which are harmful to health such as Escherichia, Clostridium, and Haemophilus. SD: standard deviation; CI: confidence interval; OTUs: operational taxonomic units; FAS: full analysis set; PPS: per protocol set.