Benefits
Digestive comfort and abdominal pain severity
In a trial in 330 adults with IBS, 10 billion CFU a day for 6 weeks cut abdominal pain scores on a 0 to 10 scale by 2.6 points, versus 0.9 on placebo, and 52% versus 16% had at least a 30% drop. Overall symptom, bloating and quality of life scores also improved more. The owner funded the trial.
Digestive symptoms after a lactose drink
In a crossover study of adults reporting lactose intolerance (22 finished both arms), 4 weeks of 10 billion CFU a day gave slightly lower diarrhea, cramping, vomiting and overall scores after a 25 g lactose drink than placebo. Flatulence, bowel sounds and breath hydrogen did not differ. The maker funded it.
Stool form and consistency
In the 330 person trial, 84% on DDS-1 had normal stool form at 6 weeks versus 62% on placebo, while stool frequency did not differ. In adults with constipation, a four-strain blend with DDS-1 did not beat placebo on its symptom questionnaire, though stools normalized sooner. A DDS-1 and UABla-12 tablet was tested in children.
Respiratory recovery in children aged 3 to 12 (two-strain blend)
Children aged 3 to 12 took DDS-1 with B. lactis UABla-12 and a prebiotic (5 billion CFU a day) or placebo for 2 weeks after a family member fell ill. Infection rates did not differ (57% versus 65%), but infections that did occur cleared in a median 5 rather than 7 days. DDS-1's own share cannot be separated.
Skin comfort in young children (two-strain blend)
In 90 children aged 1 to 3 with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis, DDS-1 with B. lactis UABla-12 and a prebiotic, 5 billion CFU twice daily for 8 weeks, lowered the skin severity score by 34% versus 19% on placebo, with less steroid cream used. The result belongs to the blend, not DDS-1 alone.
Perceived stress and immune markers
In the IBS trial, perceived stress scores fell more on DDS-1 than on placebo, a secondary result. In 87 night shift workers, 14 days of DDS-1 or another strain gave no between-group difference in cortisol, inflammatory or immune markers, though placebo showed larger changes within its own group.
Mechanism of action
Reaching and leaving the gut
In night shift workers, fecal DDS-1 rose a median 7.7-fold after 14 days, with wide variation between people. An earlier small study cited by the lactose trial authors found the strain one day after dosing but not after an 8 day washout, and the authors accepted a reader's point that it survived stomach passage in only a few subjects.
Immune signaling in lab and animal work
In cultured human colon cells, DDS-1 raised the anti-inflammatory signal IL-10 and lowered TNF-alpha, and in aging mice it raised butyrate and Akkermansia and lowered several inflammatory cytokines. These are lab and animal findings; the one human trial that measured such markers found no difference from placebo.
Lactose-splitting enzyme
L. acidophilus as a species produces beta-galactosidase (lactase), the proposed basis for lactose studies. In the DDS-1 lactose trial, the hydrogen breath test, a measure of undigested lactose reaching the colon, did not differ from placebo, so better lactose digestion was not shown; only symptom scores moved.
Clinical trials
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, three-arm, multicenter trial at 12 clinics in Mumbai (NCT03482765); DDS-1 at not less than 10 billion CFU, B. lactis UABla-12 at the same dose, or microcrystalline cellulose placebo, once daily for 6 weeks after a 2 week placebo run-in that excluded placebo responders; funded by UAS Laboratories, with two of three authors employed by UAS Laboratories, who designed the study and wrote the manuscript, while the contract research organization ran the study and analysis (Martoni et al. 2020, Nutrients)
330 adults aged 18 to 70 with IBS by Rome IV criteria and average pain of at least 4 of 10 (111 DDS-1, 110 UABla-12, 109 placebo); 318 completed.
Abdominal pain severity, the primary outcome, fell by 2.59 points on DDS-1 versus 0.85 on placebo (p = 0.001), and 52.3% versus 15.6% were responders with a drop above 30% (p < 0.001). IBS symptom severity fell 133 points on DDS-1 (p < 0.001 versus placebo), with gains in pain, bloating, bowel habit and quality of life domains, and stool form normalized more often; stool frequency did not differ. The UABla-12 arm also beat placebo, by smaller margins. Tolerability did not differ. The pairwise comparisons with placebo were not described as adjusted for multiple testing.
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial; DDS-1 at not less than 10 billion CFU or maltodextrin placebo once daily with food for 4 weeks each, 2 week washout, 25 g lactose challenge with 6 hour symptom scores; funded by Nebraska Cultures through the research organization that ran it, with the company's chief operating officer as an author; no trial registration reported (Pakdaman et al. 2016, Nutr J)
38 adults with self-reported lactose intolerance and high symptom scores on a screening lactose challenge were randomized; 22 completed both arms. Eligibility rested on symptom scores after the lactose challenge, not on a breath test.
In the longitudinal analysis at week 4, scores were lower on DDS-1 than placebo for diarrhea (1.34 versus 1.69, p = 0.033), abdominal cramping (1.94 versus 2.39, p = 0.012), vomiting (0.08 versus 0.36) and overall symptoms (9.28 versus 10.51, p = 0.037). Bowel sounds, flatulence, the hydrogen breath test, stool form and quality of life did not differ, and flatulence rose during the challenge within the DDS-1 phase. No adverse events were reported.
Randomized, double-blind, three-arm parallel trial (ACTRN12617001552370); DDS-1 at 10 billion CFU, B. lactis UABla-12 at 10 billion CFU, or placebo daily for 14 days before two night shifts; funded by UAS Laboratories, which had input into the design and manuscript, and two authors were its employees (West et al. 2020, Front Immunol)
87 adults working routine night shifts randomized (29 per group), mean age 41, 74% women.
No between-group differences were found in cortisol, acute phase proteins, adhesion markers or cytokines over the night shifts. Before the shifts, placebo showed larger within-group rises in cortisol, pentraxin and IL-1ra than the probiotic groups. Fecal DDS-1 rose a median 7.7-fold in the DDS-1 group. A sleep quality trend applied to UABla-12, not DDS-1. Both strains were well tolerated.