Benefits
Eating behavior and food cravings during a calorie-reduced diet
In a placebo-controlled trial in 152 adults with overweight on a calorie-reduced diet, 10 billion CFU a day for 12 weeks went with lower binge eating, disinhibition and food craving scores, which the authors describe as seen only on the probiotic or larger on it. These questionnaires were not registered outcomes, had many subscales, and no between-group figures are given. Weight did not differ. Lallemand funded the trial.
Body weight and fat mass during a calorie-reduced diet
In the same 12-week trial, both groups lost weight on a diet 500 kcal a day below their needs, and the probiotic did not add to the loss of body weight or fat mass. A follow-up analysis of 100 participants found BMI fell 4.6% regardless of group and that IGFBP-2, a blood marker linked to weight loss, rose by a similar amount on probiotic and placebo.
Mood-related questionnaire scores while dieting
The weight-loss trial also measured stress, anxiety and depression questionnaires as secondary outcomes. The abstract groups mood-related factors with the eating results as improved only on the probiotic or more on it, without giving between-group figures for each score, so this result cannot be weighed on its own. It has not been tested in a second trial.
Blood insulin and lipid markers while dieting
In the weight-loss trial, fasting insulin, the HOMA-IR insulin resistance score, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides fell significantly within the probiotic group only. The abstract reports these as within-group changes and does not give a direct comparison with placebo, so they are markers rather than a shown difference between groups.
Cognitive and anxiety test scores in older adults with memory loss
In 90 older adults with mild or moderate Alzheimer's disease, some taking cholinesterase inhibitor drugs, one capsule twice daily for 12 weeks went with larger gains than placebo on two cognitive tests (MMSE and verbal fluency) and an anxiety scale. This is a disease population, cited as context only; the trial was small and its papers give three different capsule doses.
Nerve cell protection in worm studies (lab work)
In roundworms engineered to carry human genes linked to nerve cell degeneration, feeding HA-114 delayed paralysis and nerve cell loss, an effect traced to the strain's fatty acids and not seen with other L. rhamnosus strains tested. These are laboratory animal findings and have not been shown in people.
Mechanism of action
Fatty acids and fat breakdown in cells (lab work)
In worm studies, the protective effect of HA-114 depended on genes for mitochondrial beta-oxidation, the process that breaks down fatty acids for energy, and on a fatty acid elongation gene. The strain's own fatty acids reproduced the effect. These are animal model findings.
Gut microbiota shifts in animal and colon models (lab work)
In mice, HA-114 in drinking water raised gut microbial diversity and changed blood and brain metabolites. In a lab model of the human colon, a mix of HA-114 and B. longum R0175 limited microbiota changes caused by a psychiatric drug. Neither result has been tied to a human outcome.
Strain-specific results
In the worm screen, HA-114 restored fat balance in all the nerve degeneration models, while L. rhamnosus HA-111 and R0011 did not. Results for HA-114 should not be assumed for other L. rhamnosus strains such as GG or HN001, or the reverse.
Clinical trials
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (NCT02962583); 10 billion CFU of HA-114 or placebo once daily with a meal for 12 weeks, with a diet 500 kcal a day below needs; run at Laval University with Lallemand Health Solutions as collaborator and, per the Europe PMC grant listing, funder; Lallemand supplied the capsules and took part in the design, and two of eight authors were from its Rosell Institute for Microbiome and Probiotics (Choi et al. 2023, Nutr Neurosci)
152 adults aged 18 to 55 with a BMI of 27 to 39.9 enrolled; the abstract gives no analyzed count, a later systematic review lists 67 (37 probiotic, 30 placebo), and an ancillary paper used blood data from 100.
Body weight, the registered primary outcome, and fat mass did not fall more on the probiotic. Binge eating, disinhibition and food craving scores, which are not among the registered outcomes, fell only on the probiotic or more on it, per the abstract, which gives no between-group figures; the binge eating, three-factor eating and food craving questionnaires used have many subscales, and no adjustment for multiple testing is described. Insulin, HOMA-IR, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides fell within the probiotic group only. An ancillary analysis found no difference in IGFBP-2 (p = 0.8).
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled three-arm trial (IRCT20210513051277N1); HA-114, B. longum R0175 or placebo capsules twice daily for 12 weeks; capsules coded and supplied by Lallemand; funded by Tehran University of Medical Sciences; the three papers state the capsule dose as 10^15, 7.5 x 10^9 and 10^9 CFU (Akhgarjand et al. 2022, Front Aging Neurosci)
90 adults aged 50 to 90 with mild or moderate Alzheimer's disease, 30 per group, some taking cholinesterase inhibitor drugs; a later amino acid paper reports 20 per group.
Context only (disease population with drug co-treatment). HA-114 led to larger gains than placebo on the verbal fluency test (difference 3.46, P < 0.0001) and the MMSE, and a larger fall in GAD-7 anxiety scores; B. longum and HA-114 did not differ. Inflammatory and oxidative stress markers improved, and BCAAs rose versus placebo. No serious side effects were reported.