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Effects of Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus MP108 on functional constipation symptoms and gut microbiota in children

Pediatric Research (2026)Cite this article

Abstract

Background

We aimed to evaluate the effects of a probiotic preparation containing Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus MP108 on the improvement of clinical symptoms and gut microbiota in children with Functional Constipation (FC).

Methods

This 4-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial assigned 6 to 36-month-old children with FC to supplementation with Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus MP108 (intervention group, n = 77) or maltodextrin supplementation (control group, n = 77). An electronic questionnaire was used to obtain the defecation status, and 16S rRNA sequencing technology was used to extract the characteristics of gut microbiota. The primary outcomes were treatment success rate (defined as average of ≥3 spontaneous stools movements per week), weekly defecation frequency, and stool hardness. The secondary outcomes included constipation-related symptoms and changes in the gut microbiota. The analysis was performed on an intention-to-treat basis.

Results

After the intervention, the treatment success rate in the intervention group was significantly higher than that in the control group (83.1% vs. 63.6%, P = 0.006). The intervention group demonstrated significantly higher weekly defecation frequency (4.99 ± 2.88 vs. 3.71 ± 2.86, P = 0.002) and Bristol Stool Form Scale (BSFS) scores (3.75 ± 1.04 vs. 2.99 ± 1.17, P = 0.002) compared to the control group. There were significant differences in the gut microbiota, and the intervention group had a higher diversity of gut microbiota Alpha (P = 0.047) and a higher relative abundance of Lacticaseibacillus, Bifidobacteriaceae, Parabacteroides_B_862066; while Erysipelatoclostridium and Eggerthella had lower relative abundance.

Conclusion

Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus MP108 can effectively improve some constipation symptoms and gut microbiota structure in children with FC.

Impact

  • This is the first study to evaluate the effects of Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus MP108 on Functional Constipation (FC) in children under 3 years old.

  • The study shows that probiotics containing Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus MP108 can improve some clinical symptoms and gut microbiota structure in children with FC.

  • The positive results of Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus MP108 intervention provide new insights for the treatment of FC in children.

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Fig. 1
Fig. 2: Comparison of constipation symptoms between the two groups after intervention.
Fig. 3: Comparison of weekly defecation frequency and stool consistency between the two groups after the intervention.
Fig. 4: Comparison of the Shannon index and β-diversity between the two groups before and after the intervention.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author, Q.L. The 16S rRNA sequencing data have been deposited in the NCBI Sequence Read Archive (SRA) database under the accession number PRJNA1331488.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the researchers involved in the investigation for their help, as well as the leaders and colleagues of the Maternal and Child Health Hospital and the Children’s Hospital for their strong support, as well as the participation of the study subjects. This research was funded by the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (grant number: 2025JJ50562).

Author information

Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Caixia Peng, Yunfeng Pan.

  2. These authors jointly supervised this work: Hongmei Zhao, Qian Lin.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition Science and Food Hygiene, Xiangya School of Public Health, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China

    Caixia Peng, Minchan Wu, Qingqing Xie, Xiaoxi Shan, Wenjun Liu, Yangling Liu, Wenting Xu & Qian Lin

  2. Food Safety Monitoring Department, Hunan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Changsha, Hunan, China

    Yunfeng Pan

  3. Ausnutria Dairy (China) Co. Ltd., Changsha, Hunan, China

    Yueming Zhao & Wei Li

  4. Hunan Engineering and Technology Research Center for Nutrition and Health Products, Changsha, China

    Yueming Zhao & Wei Li

  5. Department of Gastroenterology and Nutrition, The Affiliated Children’s Hospital of Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University (Hunan Children’s Hospital), Changsha, Hunan, China

    Hongmei Zhao

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  1. Caixia Peng
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Contributions

Significant contributions to concept and design, data analysis and interpretation: X.P., Y.P., M.W.; Important contributions to data acquisition: X.P., Y.P., H.Z., M.W., Q.X., X.S., W.L., Y.L., W.X.; Major contributions to probiotic research and development: Y.Z., W.L.; Drafting articles or critically revising important knowledge content: Q.L., H.Z., X.P., Y.P.; All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Hongmei Zhao or Qian Lin.

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Consent statement

After being fully informed about the study, primary care givers consent to their children’s participation. Before the study began, each participant’s parents provided written informed consent. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Xiangya School of Public Health of Central South University, the Ethics Committee of Changsha Maternal and Child Health Hospital and the Ethics Committee of Hunan Children’s Hospital.

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Peng, C., Pan, Y., Wu, M. et al. Effects of Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus MP108 on functional constipation symptoms and gut microbiota in children. Pediatr Res (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-025-04567-z

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