A pilot randomized controlled trial to explore cognitive and emotional effects of probiotics in fibromyalgia
Open accessAbstract
It has recently been found that microbes in the gut may regulate brain processes through the gut microbiota-brain axis, which modulates affection, motivation and higher cognitive functions. According to this finding, the use of probiotics may be a potential treatment to improve physical, psychological and cognitive status in clinical populations with altered microbiota balance such as those with fibromyalgia (FMS). Thus, the aim of the present pilot study with a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised design was to test whether a multispecies probiotic may improve cognition, emotional symptoms and functional state in a sample of patients diagnosed with FMS. Pain, impact of FMS, quality of life, anxiety and depressive symptoms were measured during the pre- and post-intervention phases; participants also completed two computerised cognitive tasks to assess impulsive choice and decision-making. Finally, urinary cortisol concentration was determined. To our knowledge, this is the first study that explore the effect of a multispecies probiotic in FMS patients. Our results indicated that probiotics improved impulsivity and decision-making in these patients. However, more research is needed to further explore the potential effects of probiotics on other cognitive functions affected in FMS as well as in other clinical populations.
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Probiotics have been shown to improve cognitive symptoms and biochemical markers in participants with various dysbiosis-related disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, fibromyalgia, and irritable bowel syndrome.
“Probiotics have been shown to improve cognitive symptoms and biochemical markers in participants with various dysbiosis-related disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease (476), fibromyalgia (477, 478), and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) (479).”
From Signalling cognition: The gut microbiota and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (2023) · cites this paper as [477]
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- Authors
- Roman, P., Estévez, A. F., Miras, A., Sánchez-Labraca, N., Cañadas, F., Vivas, A. B., & Cardona, D.
- Affiliations
- University of Almería (ES)
- University of Sheffield (GB)
- Venue
- Scientific Reports
- Published
- 2018-07-19
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 10965-10965
- ISSN
- 2045-2322 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6053373
- OpenAlex
- W2884412003
- Cited by
- 116
- References
- 67
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 9.57
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Scientific Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (acceptedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Repositori UJI (Universitat Jaume I) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Universidad de Almeria
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Probiotics and Fermented Foods
- Keywords
- probiotics, fibromyalgia, gut-brain axis, cognitive function, emotional symptoms, impulsivity, decision-making, anxiety, depression, urinary cortisol, quality of life
- MeSH terms
- Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Cognition, Decision Making, Double-Blind Method, Emotions, Female, Fibromyalgia, Humans, Impulsive Behavior, Male, Middle Aged, Pilot Projects, Quality of Life, Probiotics
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