Probiotics for migraine
There are several indications of a relationship between the gut microbiome and migraine (1). A recent systematic review of placebo-controlled studies found two studies that met the inclusion criteria, one of which found a fairly large effect and the other no effect of probiotics (2). It is also known from experience that migraine patients sometimes benefit greatly from probiotics. Some patients who have tried everything report that their migraine attacks have virtually disappeared after they start taking probiotics. A nice example of a study that describes this type of observations in more than 1000 patients is this one, in which the severity of the complaints decreased considerably (3).
New strain: LGG
A new strain has been added to the prescribing portfolio of probiotics: Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG, the world’s most researched probiotic bacterial strain. If you are wondering if there is a spelling mistake in the last name, read the last message in this knowledge flash. The fact that this strain, also known as LGG, has been researched so much (over 1,100 publications in PubMed), certainly doesn’t mean it’s effective for everything. For example, a frequently researched indication is eczema, but a meta-analysis of RCTs shows that the LGG is not effective in this regard (4). We have of course added the LGG because there are various indications where it is effective. In fact, the LGG achieves the highest achievable score for acute diarrhea in our GRADE-based rating system due to two meta-analyses of RCTs with very consistent results (5,6). There is also strong evidence that the LGG is effective in IBS (7.8). Interestingly, LGG has also been studied in ADHD and mania, although these are only preliminary indications (9,10). In addition, there are various other indications, which you can find in the information on our website.
Name change of the bacterial genus Lactobacillus
A few months ago, a team of international experts changed the name of the bacterial genus Lactobacillus (11). This genus contained several known bacterial species, such as L. acidophilus, L. rhamnosus, and L. brevis. For some time there had been indications from, among other things, genetic analyzes that the taxonomic heterogeneity within the old Lactobacillus genus was too great to reasonably group all 261 bacterial species. In the new classification, 23 new genera have been introduced, all of which start with the letter L, so that abbreviations do not change. There are various websites with an overview in which the old and new names can be looked up (12).
References:
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s10194-020-1078-9
- https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm8091441
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s15006-018-1052-5
- https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10091319
- https://doi.org/10.3748/wjg.v25.i33.4999
- https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.15267
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2036.2011.04665.x
- https://doi.org/10.1097/MCG.0000000000001054
- https://doi.org/10.1038/pr.2015.51
- https://doi.org/10.1111/bdi.12652
- https://doi.org/10.1099/ijsem.0.004107
- https://www.microbiometimes.com/the-lactobacillus-taxonomy-change-has-arrived-what-do-you-need-to-know/