Cited by 55Gastrointestinal motility and disordersProbiotics and Fermented FoodsGut microbiota and health

Efficacy of Synbiotics in Patients with Slow Transit Constipation: A Prospective Randomized Trial

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Ding, Chao, Ge, Xiaolong, Zhang, Xueying, Tian, Hongliang, Wang, Hongkan, Gu, Lili, Gong, Jianfeng, Zhu, Weiming +1 more·2016·Nutrients

Abstract

Synbiotic intake may efficiently restore the balance of gut microbiota and improve gastrointestinal functions. The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of a synbiotic in patients with slow transit constipation. A total of 100 patients with slow transit constipation were randomized to receive either a synbiotic or placebo twice daily for 12 weeks. The primary efficacy endpoints were the clinical remission and improvement rates at weeks 4 and 12. Stool frequency and consistency, colonic transit time (CTT), evacuation and abdominal symptoms, patient assessment of constipation symptoms, gastrointestinal quality-of-life index scores, satisfaction scores, and adverse events were also monitored. The clinical remission rates reached 37.5% at week 4 and 45.8% at week 12 in the treatment group, compared to 13.3% at week 4 and 16.7% at week 12 in the placebo group (p < 0.01 for both comparisons). Over 12 weeks, 64.6% of the patients who received the synbiotic experienced clinical improvement, compared to 29.2% of the patients in the placebo group (p < 0.01). During the intervention period, patients who were treated with the synbiotic exhibited increased stool frequency, improved stool consistency, decreased CTT, and improved constipation-related symptoms. This randomized, placebo-controlled trial suggested that dietary supplementation with a synbiotic improved evacuation-parameters-associated symptoms and colonic motility in patients with slow transit constipation (STC).

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  • The systematic review included 17 randomised controlled trials comprising 1256 adult patients with functional constipation.

    “17 studies, comprising 1256 participants, were included with perfect agreements between two researchers (kappa statistic=0.797).”

    From Efficacy in bowel movement and change of gut microbiota on adult functional constipation patients treated with probiotics-containing products: a systematic review and meta-analysis (2024) · cites this paper as [18]

    The Results (section 3.1; page unavailable) describe a single randomized trial: 100 patients were assigned to two groups, and 93 were included in the final analysis. The cited paper does not report a systematic review of 17 trials or 1,256 participants; the citing sentence’s study count and sample size are contrary to its reported design and results. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Ding, C., Ge, X., Zhang, X., Tian, H., Wang, H., Gu, L., Gong, J., Zhu, W., & Li, N.
Affiliations
  • Nanjing General Hospital of Nanjing Military Command (CN)
  • First Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University (CN)
Corresponding author
  • Gong, Jianfeng
  • Li, Ning
Venue
Nutrients
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2016-09-28
Volume
8
Issue
10
Pages
605
ISSN
2072-6643 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2523771096
Cited by
55
References
5
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 2
FWCI
3.65
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nutrients (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (81270006)
  • National Gastroenterology Research Project (2015BAI13B07)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Probiotics and Fermented Foods
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
Keywords
synbiotics, slow transit constipation, gut microbiota, colonic transit time, stool frequency, stool consistency, colonic motility, clinical remission, gastrointestinal quality of life, dietary supplementation

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