Probiotics in Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Review of Their Therapeutic Role

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic collection of symptoms and lowers the quality of life. The management of such patients has always involved mitigating the symptoms produced by this disorder. This article reviews the role of probiotics in IBS by compiling various studies to deduce the possible symptomatic relief that probiotics may provide to IBS patients. Given the encouraging part of probiotics in abundant other gastrointestinal conditions, this article focuses on understanding the specific functional effects (if any) that are brought about by adding probiotics in patients with different types of IBS such as IBS with predominant constipation, IBS with predominant diarrhea, and even the unclassified type of IBS. The purpose of analyzing the role of probiotics is to study the changes brought about by them at the level of the gut microbiota in patients suffering from IBS, as this may prove to be of prime importance in managing such conditions with time. This article has also furnished an overview of the pathogenesis, diagnostic criteria, treatment modalities, sources of probiotics, and their therapeutic significance in IBS patients.