Bifidobacterium lactis and constipation
What 4 graded rows on bifidobacterium lactis agree on for constipation, and where they differ. Counted side by side, never averaged.
Consensus finder Rows from the Bifidobacterium lactis page, reviewed Oct 21, 2026 How it decides
What the rows agree on
Each block and row is one graded row from the Bifidobacterium lactis page, with its PubMed record.
Your question
Bifidobacterium lactis and constipation
4 rows · 722 peopleMostly no difference: 3 of 4 rows, and most of the people. 1 found an improvement.
- DGrade D× 1
- ∅No effect× 3
- Rows
- 4
- Trials
- 4
- People
- 722
Where they differ
From the rowsThe best-graded row, grade D, is a randomized trial of 41 people (2026) and found an improvement. 3 rows are graded No effect, our grade for adequately powered trials that found no effect.
The 3 rows that found no difference were larger: a median of 228 people, against 41 people for the row that found an improvement.
Only the 3 rows that found no difference name women in their population.
The row that found an improvement is newer (2026) than the 3 rows that found no difference (2018 to 2025).
The rows
1 improved · 3 no difference- ∅No effectComplete spontaneous bowel movements in functional constipation · No difference
RCT · n 229 · 2024 · Adults aged 18 to 70 with functional constipation at 5 hospitals in Shanghai (85% female)
About 7.0 billion CFU a day at the start (4.69 billion at the end) · 8 weeks
Weekly complete spontaneous bowel movements rose by 0.80 with HN019 and 0.66 with placebo, with no difference between groups.
Row on the Bifidobacterium lactis page · PubMed 39356506 (opens PubMed)
- ∅No effectColonic transit time and constipation symptoms in functional constipation · No difference
RCT · n 228 · 2018 · Adults with functional constipation (Rome III criteria) in France
1 billion or 10 billion CFU a day · 28 days
No difference from placebo in colonic transit time or any secondary outcome. In a post hoc subgroup of 65 people with 3 or fewer bowel movements a week, weekly movements rose by 2.0 (high dose) and 1.7 (low dose).
Row on the Bifidobacterium lactis page · PubMed 29227175 (opens PubMed)
- ∅No effectComplete spontaneous bowel movements in functional constipation · No difference
RCT · n 224 · 2025 · Adults with functional constipation (Rome III) at four clinical units in France
Daily dose not stated in the abstract · 8 weeks
HN019 was not superior to placebo for complete spontaneous bowel movements; stool moisture, microbiota, metabolites and calprotectin did not differ. No safety concerns were identified.
Row on the Bifidobacterium lactis page · PubMed 40320938 (opens PubMed)
- DGrade DConstipation symptoms in functional constipation (strain BL-99) · Improved
RCT · n 41 · 2026 · Adults with functional constipation
1 × 10¹¹ CFU a day · 4 weeks, then 2 weeks of follow-up
PAC-SYM constipation symptom scores fell more than with placebo, notably abdominal discomfort (change 1.8 vs 0.9, p = 0.007) and pain during defecation (2.1 vs 1.0, p = 0.003); the gains persisted 2 weeks after stopping.
Row on the Bifidobacterium lactis page · PubMed 42751774 (opens PubMed)