Across 4 studies, 3 reported beneficial effects (1 large, 2 moderate) and 1 reported a neutral effect, yielding a predominantly beneficial direction with moderate-to-large effect sizes. Two of the four studies reached statistical significance. The median study duration was 84 days. Most evidence comes from clinical populations, including women with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, IBS patients, and cancer patients receiving home enteral nutrition, with one study using a dose of 1×10^10 CFU/day.
Caveats: Evidence base is small (only 4 studies) — conclusions should be considered preliminary. Available evidence is overwhelmingly positive (3 of 4 studies beneficial) — clinical literature in this area is subject to publication bias (null-result studies are less likely to be published or indexed). The neutral study had a small sample size (n=21) and was of shorter duration (4 weeks), which may account for the lack of effect. One study was an observational design, and the largest RCT (n=32) scored highest on evidence quality.
Moreover, the changes in the frequency of vomiting and flatulence were significantly reduced at week 4 compared to baseline in the Lp299v group (p=0.0117).
from: Effects of 4 weeks of Lactobacillus plantarum 299v supplementation on nutritional status,Moreover, the changes in the frequency of vomiting and flatulence were significantly reduced at week 4 compared to baseline in the Lp299v group (p=0.0117).
from: Effects of 4 weeks of Lactobacillus plantarum 299v supplementation on nutritional status,Self-assessment identified that long-term treatment with LP299V was tolerated well by 94 % of patients.
from: [Treatment of IBS with Lactobacillus plantarum 299v: Therapeutic success increases with leLp299v may reduce the gastrointestinal symptoms related to enteral nutrition; notwithstanding, the improvement of quality of life may be the result of enteral nutrition rather than the effect of administration of Lp299v.
from: Effects of 4 weeks of Lactobacillus plantarum 299v supplementation on nutritional status,The NE+Lp299v intervention improved overall quality of life (60.94 pts. vs. 35.94 pts.)
Thus, administration of Lactobacillus plantarum 299v may be effective in improvement of... quality of life of cancer patients receiving home enteral nutrition.
Additionally, quality of life increased significantly (mental well-being: + 110 %, influence on everyday life: -67 %, p < 0.01).
The improvement of quality of life was observed in both groups; however, with no statistically significant differences between the analyzed groups (p>0.05).