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Probiotics in pregnant women to prevent allergic disease: a randomized, double-blind trial

C K Dotterud1, O Storrø, R Johnsen

  • 1Department of Public Health and General Practice, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, N-7489 Trondheim, Norway. dotterud@stud.ntnu.no

The British Journal of Dermatology
|June 16, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Maternal probiotic supplementation significantly reduced the incidence of atopic dermatitis (AD) in children by nearly half. However, this intervention did not impact atopic sensitization or asthma development in the first two years of life.

Area of Science:

  • Allergy and immunology research
  • Microbiome and health studies
  • Pediatric disease prevention

Background:

  • Previous studies indicated probiotics may reduce atopic dermatitis (AD) incidence in at-risk mother-child pairs.
  • The efficacy in nonselected populations remained less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the preventive effect of maternal probiotic intake on atopic sensitization and allergic diseases in infants.
  • To assess outcomes in a general, nonselected maternal population.

Main Methods:

  • A randomized, double-blind trial involving 415 pregnant women.
  • Probiotic milk (Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, L. acidophilus La-5, Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis Bb-12) or placebo administered from late gestation through early postpartum breastfeeding.
  • Children assessed at 2 years for atopic sensitization, AD, asthma, and allergic rhinoconjunctivitis using intention-to-treat analysis.

Main Results:

  • Maternal probiotic supplementation resulted in a 49% reduction in the cumulative incidence of AD by age 2 (Odds Ratio 0.51, P=0.013).
  • No significant differences were observed in the incidence of atopic sensitization (OR 1.52, P=0.254) or asthma (OR 0.68, P=0.437) between groups.

Conclusions:

  • Probiotic administration to mothers in a nonselected population effectively reduced the cumulative incidence of atopic dermatitis in their children.
  • The intervention showed no significant effect on preventing atopic sensitization or asthma development.
Abstract

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