Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32368530›Full record

ReviewWorld journal of clinical cases2020

Probiotic mixture VSL#3: An overview of basic and clinical studies in chronic diseases.

Fang-Shu Cheng, Dan Pan, Bing Chang, Min Jiang, Li-Xuan Sang

Erratum issuedOpen access · diamondAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in World journal of clinical cases, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 73 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
73citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
6.0field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

73 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 133 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  6. Trial
  7. VSL#3British journal of biomedical science · 2026
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13 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Fang-Shu ChengDepartment of Dermatology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, Liaoning Province, China.
Dan PanDepartment of Geriatrics, the First Affiliated Hospital, China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, Liaoning Province, China.
Bing ChangDepartment of Gastroenterology, the First Affiliated Hospital, China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, Liaoning Province, China.
Min JiangDepartment of Gastroenterology, the First Affiliated Hospital, China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, Liaoning Province, China.
Li-Xuan SangDepartment of Geriatrics, the First Affiliated Hospital, China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, Liaoning Province, China. sanglixuan2008@163.com.
First Hospital of China Medical University · CNChina Medical University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Probiotics are known as "live microorganisms" and have been proven to have a health effect on hosts at the proper dose. Recently, a kind of probiotic mixture including eight live bacterial strains, VSL#3, has attracted considerable attention for its combined effect. VSL#3 is the only probiotic considered as a kind of medical food; it mainly participates in the regulation of the intestinal barrier function, including improving tight junction protein function, balancing intestinal microbial composition, regulating immune-related cytokine expression and so on. The objective of this review is to discuss the treatment action and mechanism for the administration of VSL#3 in chronic diseases of animals and humans (including children). We found that VSL#3 has a therapeutic or preventive effect in various systemic diseases per a large number of studies, including digestive systemic diseases (gastrointestinal diseases and hepatic diseases), obesity and diabetes, allergic diseases, nervous systemic diseases, atherosclerosis, bone diseases, and female reproductive systemic diseases.

Indexed as

Chronic diseasesCytokinesIntestinal barrier functionIntestinal microbial balanceTherapeutic useVSL#3

Identifiers

PMID32368530
PMCPMC7190945
OpenAlexW3019535980

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.