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Probiotic Supplementation Improves the Clinical Measures of Cognition in Patients With Mild Cognitive Impairment
Annabelle Assad, Samuel L Jonhson, Rhett A Reichard. Cureus, 2025-08-03
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Mild cognitive impairment progresses slowly and may be reversible, providing a window of opportunity for intervention before it progresses to Alzheimer's disease, at which point treatments, at best, ameliorate symptoms with little efficacy towards delaying disease progression. The gut and brain communicate through the gut-brain axis, and derangement of the gut microbiome has been shown to promote neuroinflammation, a process intricately linked to pathological progression to mild cognitive impairment and subsequent neurocognitive diseases. In preclinical trials, probiotics modulated the gut microbiome in a way that was neuroprotective. We aim to test our hypothesis that probiotic supplementation can improve cognition in those with mild cognitive impairment. A literature search of electronic databases PubMed/MEDLINE using terms such as "Probiotics" and "Cognitive dysfunction" or "Alzheimer's disease" or "Mild Cognitive Impairment" was done to identify all randomized controlled trials that tested our hypothesis. The effects of daily doses of Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, or a mixture of both on clinical cognitive tests were assessed in five trials. All studies but one demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in total cognitive test scores, while all studies showed a significant improvement over the placebo in at least one cognitive subdomain. An overall trend suggested greater improvement in those more severely impaired at baseline. Thus, probiotics may be effective in improving cognition in those with mild cognitive impairment. However, larger-scale multicenter clinical trials should confirm the present findings using a standardized approach.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Assad, A., Jonhson, S. L., & Reichard, R. A. (2025). Probiotic Supplementation Improves the Clinical Measures of Cognition in Patients With Mild Cognitive Impairment. Cureus. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.89302
Vancouver
Assad A, Jonhson SL, Reichard RA. Probiotic Supplementation Improves the Clinical Measures of Cognition in Patients With Mild Cognitive Impairment. Cureus. 2025. doi:10.7759/cureus.89302. PMID: 40918855.
BibTeX
@article{assad2025-40918855,
author = {Assad, Annabelle and Jonhson, Samuel L and Reichard, Rhett A},
title = {{Probiotic Supplementation Improves the Clinical Measures of Cognition in Patients With Mild Cognitive Impairment}},
journal = {Cureus},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.7759/cureus.89302},
pmid = {40918855},
url = {https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.89302}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- All studies but one demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in total cognitive test scores, while all studies showed a significant improvement over the placebo in at least one cognitive subdomain.
- An overall trend suggested greater improvement in those more severely impaired at baseline.
Why it matters
A review of five randomized controlled trials found that daily probiotic supplementation improved total cognitive test scores in most studies and at least one cognitive subdomain in all studies, compared with placebo. The authors suggest probiotics may improve cognition in MCI, but this is a literature review and does not establish a cure or confirm long-term prevention of dementia.
Study details
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 40/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 38 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 40 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Cureus) |
| Journal's citation record | 1 / 4 | Cureus: journal h-index 131 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 1 / 7 | Cited 3 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 1 / 5 | 1.0 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025 |
| Impact for its field and year | 2 / 6 | Cited 1.3× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 1 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 3 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | OpenAlex's profile for last-listed author Rhett A Reichard holds only 1 work(s), too few to judge a track record — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | 0 / 3 | Saba University School of Medicine: institution h-index 55 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40918855) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Points | 38 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 38 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 40 out of 100. |
| Total | 40 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
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