Two Lactobacilli Strains as Adjuvant Therapy in the Management of Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common highly prevalent functional gastrointestinal (GI) disorder that places an enormous burden on resource-challenged healthcare systems. Although many drugs have been advocated in the treatment of IBS, including psychotropic agents, antispasmodics, bulking agents, and 5-HT receptor antagonists. However, in the vast majority of instances, these medications have failed to provide adequate symptom alleviation, presumably due to the disease's diverse pathophysiology. Probiotics are "live bacteria that confer a health benefit on the host when administered in suitable doses". In IBS, a decrease in Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus species, as well as an increase in Gamma-proteobacteria species (a family of pathogens), has been described in IBS studies. Therefore, the ability of probiotics to repair dysbiosis (qualitative and quantitative changes in the microbiota) or stabilize the host microbiota is the reason for their use in the treatment of IBS.