Effects of the Multispecies Probiotic Ecologic Barrier in IBS Patients With Upper GI Symptoms and Anxiety, Depression, or Stress

June 15, 2026 updated by: Institute of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Vietnam

The Effects of the Multispecies Probiotic Mixture Ecologic Barrier for Patients With Irritable Bowel Syndrome With Upper Gastrointestinal Symptoms and Having Anxiety, Depression, and Stress Symptoms

The aim of this clinical trial is to find out whether Ecologic Barrier is effective in supporting the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in adults. The main questions that this trial aims to answer are:

  • Does Ecologic Barrier help improve IBS severity when added to standard IBS treatment?
  • Does Ecologic Barrier help improve symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress in patients with IBS?
  • Does Ecologic Barrier help improve upper gastrointestinal symptoms when added to standard IBS treatment?
  • What adverse events may occur when using Ecologic Barrier? The researchers will compare a group receiving standard symptom-based treatment with another group receiving standard treatment plus Ecologic Barrier.

Participants will:

  • Receive IBS treatment for 2 months, with Ecologic Barrier added during either the first month or the second month, depending on random assignment.
  • Attend a follow-up visit after 1 month of treatment.
  • Take part in interviews about IBS severity, symptom improvement, adverse events, and symptoms of depression and anxiety at baseline, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, and 12 weeks.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

60

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • Vietnam
    • Hanoi
      • Hanoi, Hanoi, Vietnam, 10000
        • Recruiting
        • Institute of Gastroenterology and Hepatology
        • Contact:
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Hang V Dao, PhD

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Indication for upper endoscopy and colonoscopy;
  • Diagnosed with IBS-D according to Rome IV criteria;
  • Presence of at least one upper gastrointestinal symptom, including: retrosternal burning, reflux, epigastric pain, epigastric burning, postprandial discomfort, early satiety, abdominal bloating, belching, sour regurgitation, nausea/vomiting;
  • Manifestations of anxiety, depression, or stress, with at least one of the three DASS-21 subscale scores exceeding the normal threshold (depression score >9 and/or anxiety score >7 and/or stress score >14).

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Positive for Helicobacter pylori by rapid urease test during endoscopy or by 13C-urea breath test;
  • Currently using anxiolytic or antidepressant medication;
  • Currently or previously used antibiotics within the past month;
  • Currently or previously used symptomatic treatment, probiotics, or proton pump inhibitors (PPI) within the past two weeks;
  • History of gastrointestinal surgery;
  • Endoscopic findings of organic lesions: ulcer, acute inflammation, colonic polyp >5 mm, or colonic polyp <5 mm with suspected neoplasia;
  • Pregnant or breastfeeding women.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Ecologic Barrier First-Month Sequence
This group included IBS-D patients who were prescribed a standard 2-month treatment regimen and received the study product as an add-on therapy during the first month.
Dietary supplement: Ecologic Barrier
Ecologic Barrier will be added to the standard treatment regimen during the first month of treatment.
Dietary supplement: Ecologic Barrier
Ecologic Barrier will be added to the standard treatment regimen during the second month of treatment.
Experimental: Ecologic Barrier Second-Month Sequence
This group included IBS-D patients who were prescribed a standard 2-month treatment regimen and received the study product as an add-on therapy during the second month.
Dietary supplement: Ecologic Barrier
Ecologic Barrier will be added to the standard treatment regimen during the first month of treatment.
Dietary supplement: Ecologic Barrier
Ecologic Barrier will be added to the standard treatment regimen during the second month of treatment.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change from baseline in Irritable Bowel Syndrome Severity Scoring System (IBS-SSS) score at multiple time points
Time Frame: Baseline (0 weeks), 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, and 12 weeks
The IBS-SSS score assesses the severity of IBS symptoms based on abdominal pain intensity, abdominal pain frequency, abdominal distension, dissatisfaction with bowel habits, and interference with daily life
Baseline (0 weeks), 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, and 12 weeks
Irritable Bowel Syndrome-Global Assessment of Improvement (IBS-GAI) score
Time Frame: 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, and 12 weeks
The IBS-GAI is a self-administered questionnaire used to assess the overall change in IBS symptoms compared to the baseline. Patients answer a question such as "Compared to the way you felt before beginning the trial, have your IBS symptoms changed?" on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (substantially worse) to 7 (substantially improved). Higher scores indicate greater improvement
2 weeks, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, and 12 weeks
Percentage of patients achieving Irritable Bowel Syndrome-Adequate Relief (IBS-AR)
Time Frame: 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, and 12 weeks
The IBS-AR is a single, dichotomous question asked to assess if patients obtained adequate relief of their IBS symptoms. Responses are categorical (Yes or No). The outcome is reported as the percentage of participants responding "Yes" at each evaluated time point.
2 weeks, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, and 12 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change from baseline in Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21) subscale scores
Time Frame: Baseline (0 weeks), 4 weeks and 8 weeks
The DASS-21 is a 21-item self-report questionnaire designed to measure three related negative emotional states: depression, anxiety, and stress (7 items per subscale). Each item is scored from 0 (did not apply to me at all) to 3 (applied to me very much). For each subscale (Depression, Anxiety, and Stress), the scores of its 7 items are summed and multiplied by 2. Each individual subscale yields a final score range of 0 to 42. Higher scores in each subscale indicate greater severity of the respective symptoms.
Baseline (0 weeks), 4 weeks and 8 weeks
Change from baseline in gastrointestinal symptom severity score
Time Frame: Baseline (0 weeks), 4 weeks, and 8 weeks
Gastrointestinal symptom severity is assessed using a 10-point Visual Analog Scale (VAS). The scale ranges from 0 to 10, where a score of 0 represents "normal" (no symptoms), 1-3 represents "mild", 4-6 represents "moderate", and 7-10 represents "severe" symptoms. The final outcome is reported as the change in the total severity score from baseline to each subsequent follow-up period. Higher scores indicate greater severity of gastrointestinal symptoms
Baseline (0 weeks), 4 weeks, and 8 weeks
Incidence rate of specific treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs)
Time Frame: 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 8 weeks and 12 weeks
The incidence rate of specific treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) is actively assessed at each follow-up. The pre-specified checklist of symptoms includes: abdominal bloating, abdominal distension, bowel habit disorders, headache, dizziness, nausea, heartburn/retrosternal burning, sleep disorders, and other unlisted events. For each reported symptom, the onset time and duration will be documented
2 weeks, 4 weeks, 8 weeks and 12 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Institute of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Vietnam

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

June 1, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

June 30, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

June 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 7, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 15, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

June 18, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 18, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 15, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • EB2406

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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