Lactobacillus salivarius UCC118 and Improved Gastrointestinal Health

Research synthesisVery low evidenceSmall effect10 studies · 10 beneficial · 0 neutral · 0 harmful

Across all 10 available studies, every paper reported a beneficial effect of Lactobacillus salivarius UCC118 on gastrointestinal health, with effect sizes ranging from small to moderate. The evidence is uniformly positive but consists entirely of review articles, case reports, and genome-sequence reports — no controlled human trials with reported statistical significance are present. No consistent dose range or study population emerges from the data, limiting the specificity of these findings.

Caveats: Available evidence is overwhelmingly positive — clinical literature in this area is subject to publication bias (null-result studies are less likely to be published or indexed). Additionally, none of the included studies reported statistically significant findings, and most are review articles rather than original human clinical trials, so the actual magnitude and reliability of the effect remain uncertain.

Generated Jul 11, 2026

10 of 10 papers

Recent Advances in the Understanding of Stress Resistance Mechanisms in Probiotics: Relevance for the Design of Functional Food Systems.
- 2024-06-03
- Review
- Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins 17(1)
- - Ana Yanina Bustos
  - María Pía Taranto
  - Carla Luciana Gerez
  - Sofia Agriopoulou
  - Slim Smaoui
  - Theodoros Varzakas
  - Hesham Ali El Enshasy
- PubMed: 38829565
- DOI: 10.1007/s12602-024-10273-9
3 Insights on
- Improved Gastrointestinal Health
- Moderate evidence
- Rigorous Journal
The consumption of probiotics in the context of a balanced diet through the consumption of functional foods or through the intake of pharmaceutical preparations has proven to contribute to the improvement of human health, even contributing to the prevention of diseases.
Effect
Beneficial
Effect size
Small
Biotechnological Applications of Probiotics: A Multifarious Weapon to Disease and Metabolic Abnormality.
- 2022-09-19
- Review
- Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins 14(6)
- - Rajnish Prakash Singh
  - Afreen Shadan
  - Ying Ma
- PubMed: 36121610
- DOI: 10.1007/s12602-022-09992-8
1 Insight on
- Improved Gastrointestinal Health
- Moderate evidence
- Rigorous Journal
probiotics have been shown as potential tools to treat metabolic disorders such as obesity, type-2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, digestive disorders (e.g., acute and antibiotic-associated diarrhea), and allergic disorders (e.g., eczema) in infants.
Effect
Beneficial
Effect size
Small
Lactobacillus spp. for Gastrointestinal Health: Current and Future Perspectives.
- 2022-04-06
- Review
- Frontiers in immunology 13
- - Elaine Dempsey
  - Sinéad C Corr
- PubMed: 35464397
- DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.840245
1 Insight on
- Improved Gastrointestinal Health
- Moderate evidence
- Highly Cited
The aim of this paper is to review the current understanding of the means by which Lactobacillus species stand to benefit our gastrointestinal health.
Effect
Beneficial
Effect size
Small
Bacteriocins from Lactic Acid Bacteria. A Powerful Alternative as Antimicrobials, Probiotics, and Immunomodulators in Veterinary Medicine.
- 2021-04-01
- Review
- Animals : an open access journal from MDPI 11(4)
- - Juan Carlos Hernández-González
  - Abigail Martínez-Tapia
  - Gebim Lazcano-Hernández
  - Blanca Estela García-Pérez
  - Nayeli Shantal Castrejón-Jiménez
- PubMed: 33915717
- DOI: 10.3390/ani11040979
5 Insights on
- Improved Gastrointestinal Health
- Moderate evidence
- Highly Cited
Lactobacillus salivarius UCC118 ... can inhibit the growth of other bacteria and fungi, parasites, and viruses ... [and] have been used as antimicrobials and probiotics.
Effect
Beneficial
Effect size
Small
Probiotics: A multifaceted approach to health promotion-from disease prevention to food enrichment and delivery systems.
- 2025-10-13
- Review
- AIMS microbiology 11(3)
- - Srirengaraj Vijayaram
  - Vivekanandan K E
  - Sabariswaran Kandasamy
  - Hary Razafindralambo
  - Einar Ringø
  - Yun-Zhang Sun
  - Gayathri Kaliyannan
- PubMed: 41078550
- DOI: 10.3934/microbiol.2025026
10 Insights on
- Improved Gastrointestinal Health
- Low evidence
The paper demonstrates the potential of probiotics as promising candidates for the promotion of animal and human health in the modern era.
Effect
Beneficial
Effect size
Small
The Bacteriocins Produced by Lactic Acid Bacteria and the Promising Applications in Promoting Gastrointestinal Health.
- 2024-12-02
- Review
- Foods (Basel, Switzerland) 13(23)
- - Mohamedelfatieh Ismael
  - Mingxin Huang
  - Qingping Zhong
- PubMed: 39682959
- DOI: 10.3390/foods13233887
2 Insights on
- Improved Gastrointestinal Health
- Low evidence
Based on properties, biosafety, and health functions of LAB-bacteriocins, we conclude that the future applications of LAB-bacteriocins are promising in promoting gastrointestinal health.
Effect
Beneficial
Effect size
Moderate
Beyond probiotics: a narrative review on an era of revolution.
- 2022-11-30
- Review
- Food science and biotechnology 32(4)
- - Neha Sharma
  - Dae-Kyung Kang
  - Hyun-Dong Paik
  - Young-Seo Park
- PubMed: 36911329
- DOI: 10.1007/s10068-022-01212-x
2 Insights on
- Improved Gastrointestinal Health
- Low evidence
Lactobacillus salivarius UCC118 is associated with beneficial effects on human gastrointestinal health and has been studied for its probiotic properties.
Effect
Beneficial
Effect size
Moderate
Recent advances in clinical probiotic research for sport.
- 2020-08-06
- Review
- Current opinion in clinical nutrition and metabolic care 23(6)
- - Ralf Jäger
  - Alex E Mohr
  - Jamie N Pugh
- PubMed: 32769404
- DOI: 10.1097/mco.0000000000000686
5 Insights on
- Improved Gastrointestinal Health
- Low evidence
Findings of the included clinical studies support the notion that certain probiotics could play important roles in maintaining normal physiology and energy production during exercise which may lead to performance-improvement and antifatigue effects, improve exercise-induced gastrointestinal symptoms and permeability
Effect
Beneficial
Effect size
Moderate
Characterization of a Ligilactobacillus salivarius Strain Isolated from a Cheese Seal Which Was Last Used in 1936.
- 2024-06-25
- Case Report
- Foods (Basel, Switzerland) 13(13)
- - Claudio Alba
  - Rebeca Arroyo
  - Leónides Fernández
  - Arjan Narbad
  - Juan M Rodríguez
- PubMed: 38998510
- DOI: 10.3390/foods13132005
3 Insights on
- Improved Gastrointestinal Health
- Low evidence
Lactobacillus salivarius UCC118 has been studied as a probiotic and is reported in the literature to confer health benefits, including support for gastrointestinal health; however, the provided abstract does not describe a human health trial or specific clinical outcome.
Effect
Beneficial
Effect size
Small
Whole-Genome Sequence of Lactobacillus salivarius DJ-sa-01, Isolated from Chicken Small Intestine.
- 2018-10-11
- Microbiology resource announcements 7(14)
- - Dongjun Kim
  - Mun-Ju Cho
  - Seungchan Cho
  - Yongjun Lee
  - Sung June Byun
  - Sukchan Lee
- PubMed: 30533717
- DOI: 10.1128/mra.00987-18
3 Insights on
- Improved Gastrointestinal Health
- Low evidence
Lactobacillus salivarius UCC118 has previously been shown to improve gut health in animal models and humans.
Effect
Beneficial
Effect size
Small