Supplementation With Bifidobacterium and Symptomatic Control in Irritable Bowel Syndrome: An Evidence-Based Review

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional gastrointestinal disorder, with a global prevalence of around 11%. Family doctors should be aware of the diagnosis and treatment of this pathology. The benefit of using probiotics is questionable. The purpose of this review is to establish the evidence of the association between Bifidobacterium supplementation and symptomatic control in patients with IBS. The research was conducted using the National Guideline Clearinghouse, National Electronic Library for Health of the British NHS, Canadian Medical Association Practice Guidelines InfoBase, Cochrane Library, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness, Bandolier, Evidence-Based Medicine Online, and PubMed. Articles published between March 2017 and March 2022 in humans and written in Portuguese, Spanish, and English using the terms IBS and Bifidobacterium were included. To stratify the level of evidence (LOE), the Strength of Recommendation Taxonomy (SORT), from the American Academy of Family Physicians, was used. Thirty-seven articles were found corresponding to the search terms, and a total of seven articles were selected. Three clinical trials and a simple review have demonstrated improvement in symptoms, although further studies are needed. The guideline and the systematic review did not demonstrate superiority in symptomatic relief when compared to other species of probiotics. The meta-analysis did not show the efficacy of the isolated use of Bifidobacterium. The evidence of an association between supplementation with Bifidobacterium and symptomatic control in patients with IBS is not clear. Some studies seem to demonstrate benefits in improving symptoms (SORT C).