A "probiotic" preparation containing the beneficial microbe Bifidobacterium infantis relieves symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, a common problem that usually involves cramping, diarrhea and constipation, new research shows.

In contrast, treatment with another probiotic microbe, Lactobacillus salivarius, appears to have no effect.

Previous studies of probiotic preparations have been small and yielded inconsistent results, Dr. Eamonn M. M. Quigley, at University College Cork in Ireland, and colleagues note in their paper, published in the medical journal Gastroenterology.

For the current study, 75 irritable bowel syndrome patients were randomly assigned to take L. salivarius or B. infantis mixed in a malted milk drink or the malted milk drink alone every morning for 8 weeks. Patients kept track of their symptoms on diary cards collected weekly for analysis.

The B. infantis mixture was better than the malted drink alone at reducing overall symptoms, abdominal pain and discomfort, and bloating. In contrast, the L. salivarius mixture was no better than the malted drink alone in reducing symptoms.

The investigators point out that the symptom relief achieved with B. infantis was comparable to that seen with Zelnorm (tegaserod) and Lotronex (alosetron), two drugs that have been recently approved for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome.

SOURCE Gastroenterology, March 2005.