Thymus serpyllum Extract Improves Gastrointestinal Symptoms and Modulates Fecal Gut Microbiome Composition in a Multicenter, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial.
14 affiliations
- 1Centro de Salud "Salvador Caballero", Distrito Granada-Metropolitano, 18012 Granada, Spain.
- 2Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria de Granada (ibs.GRANADA), 18012 Granada, Spain.
- 3Servicio Microbiología, Hospital Universitario Clínico San Cecilio, 18016 Granada, Spain.
- 4Department of Pharmacology, Center for Biomedical Research (CIBM), University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain.
- 5Servicio Digestivo, Hospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieves, 18014 Granada, Spain.
- 6Centro de Salud Las Gabias, Distrito Granada-Metropolitano, 18012 Granada, Spain.
- 7Department of Internal Medicine, Santa Ana Hospital, 18600 Motril, Spain.
- 8CIBER de Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBER-Infecc), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain.
- 9Servicio Farmacia Hospitalaria, Hospital Universitario Clínico San Cecilio, 18016 Granada, Spain.
- 10School of Pharmacy, Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy, University College London (UCL), London WC1N 1AX, UK.
- 11Dr. Ivo Pischel Consulting, 53547 Rossbach, Germany.
- 12Finzelberg GmbH & Co. KG, 56626 Andernach, Germany.
- 13MartinBauer Nutraceuticals, 10040 Rivalta di Torino, Italy.
- 14CIBER de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBER-EHD), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain.
Abstract
Background/objectives
Functional gastrointestinal discomfort is highly prevalent and affects up to 40% of the global population and remains challenging to manage due to its multifactorial nature. Usual interventions include dietary and lifestyle modifications, such as targeted phytochemical-based interventions. This multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial investigated the efficacy and exploratory microbiome-related effects of a standardized wild thyme extract (WThE) administered for 8 weeks on gastrointestinal symptoms, health-related quality of life, and fecal microbiome dynamics in adults without diagnosed organic gastrointestinal disease who reported gastrointestinal discomfort.Methods
A total of 178 adults without diagnosed organic gastrointestinal disease and with persistent gastrointestinal discomfort were randomized to WThE (n = 90) or placebo (n = 88); 131 participants had observed week-8 outcome data.Results
The analysis showed a greater reduction in overall gastrointestinal symptom burden with WThE than placebo, measured by the GSRS total score, with the largest exploratory domain-level differences observed in indigestion, constipation, and diarrhea-related symptoms. Improvements were also observed in health-related quality of life. At the microbiome level, no significant between-group differences were detected in α- or β-diversity; however, taxon-level analyses identified specific changes in fecal microbial composition, and predicted functional profiling suggested associated pathway-level differences. Moreover, the extract was well tolerated, with no product-related adverse events reported during the 8-week intervention.Conclusions
Overall, WThE reduced self-reported gastrointestinal symptom burden and improved selected quality-of-life outcomes in adults with persistent gastrointestinal discomfort, supporting Thymus serpyllum as a safe and well-tolerated botanical intervention linked to favorable modulation of the fecal microbiome and enhanced gastrointestinal function.Clinicaltrials
gov no: NCT06639126.
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BibTeX
@article{lopezzambrano2026thymus,
title = {{Thymus serpyllum Extract Improves Gastrointestinal Symptoms and Modulates Fecal Gut Microbiome Composition in a Multicenter, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial.}},
author = {Raquel López-Zambrano and Jorge García-García and Laura López-Escánez and Teresa Vezza and Luckman Gbati and Rafael Palacios-López and Benita Martin-Castaño and Gonzalo Vargas-Castillo and Margarita Martínez-Zaldivar and Antonio M Caballero-Mateos and Federico García and Eduardo Redondo-Cerezo and Raúl Fernández García and Emilio Fernández-Varón and Rocío Morón and Ivo Pischel and Cynthia G Suarez and Alba Rodríguez-Nogales and María Elena Rodríguez-Cabezas and Julio Gálvez},
journal = {Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland)},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.3390/medsci14060611},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42930530},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Thymus serpyllum Extract Improves Gastrointestinal Symptoms and Modulates Fecal Gut Microbiome Composition in a Multicenter, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial.
AU - Raquel López-Zambrano
AU - Jorge García-García
AU - Laura López-Escánez
AU - Teresa Vezza
AU - Luckman Gbati
AU - Rafael Palacios-López
AU - Benita Martin-Castaño
AU - Gonzalo Vargas-Castillo
AU - Margarita Martínez-Zaldivar
AU - Antonio M Caballero-Mateos
AU - Federico García
AU - Eduardo Redondo-Cerezo
AU - Raúl Fernández García
AU - Emilio Fernández-Varón
AU - Rocío Morón
AU - Ivo Pischel
AU - Cynthia G Suarez
AU - Alba Rodríguez-Nogales
AU - María Elena Rodríguez-Cabezas
AU - Julio Gálvez
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/28
JO - Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland)
DO - 10.3390/medsci14060611
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42930530
AB - Background/objectives Functional gastrointestinal discomfort is highly prevalent and affects up to 40% of the global population and remains challenging to manage due to its multifactorial nature. Usual interventions include dietary and lifestyle modifications, such as targeted phytochemical-based interventions. This multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial investigated the efficacy and exploratory microbiome-related effects of a standardized wild thyme extract (WThE) administered for 8 weeks on gastrointestinal symptoms, health-related quality of life, and fecal microbiome dynamics in adults without diagnosed organic gastrointestinal disease who reported gastrointestinal discomfort.Methods A total of 178 adults without diagnosed organic gastrointestinal disease and with persistent gastrointestinal discomfort were randomized to WThE (n = 90) or placebo (n = 88); 131 participants had observed week-8 outcome data.Results The analysis showed a greater reduction in overall gastrointestinal symptom burden with WThE than placebo, measured by the GSRS total score, with the largest exploratory domain-level differences observed in indigestion, constipation, and diarrhea-related symptoms. Improvements were also observed in health-related quality of life. At the microbiome level, no significant between-group differences were detected in α- or β-diversity; however, taxon-level analyses identified specific changes in fecal microbial composition, and predicted functional profiling suggested associated pathway-level differences. Moreover, the extract was well tolerated, with no product-related adverse events reported during the 8-week intervention.Conclusions Overall, WThE reduced self-reported gastrointestinal symptom burden and improved selected quality-of-life outcomes in adults with persistent gastrointestinal discomfort, supporting Thymus serpyllum as a safe and well-tolerated botanical intervention linked to favorable modulation of the fecal microbiome and enhanced gastrointestinal function.Clinicaltrials gov no: NCT06639126.
SN - 2076-3271
ER -