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Probiotics and infantile atopic eczema
Ahmet Zülfikar Akelma1, Aziz Alper Biten2
1Pediatric Allergy and Immunology Unit, Ankara Kecioren Teaching and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
Insights
Probiotics show potential for preventing pediatric eczema, especially when given to mothers prenatally and infants postnatally. However, strong evidence for their effectiveness in treating existing eczema is still lacking.
Area of Science:
- Allergy and Immunology
- Pediatric Dermatology
- Microbiology
Background:
- Pediatric eczema is a prevalent condition with significant societal and economic impacts.
- It often serves as an initial allergic manifestation in children, potentially preceding other atopic diseases like asthma.
- Recent increases in eczema incidence drive research into its epidemiology, prevention, and treatment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the current evidence on the role of probiotics in preventing and treating pediatric atopic eczema.
- To evaluate the safety and potential benefits of probiotic administration during pregnancy and infancy for eczema prevention.
- To identify knowledge gaps and future research directions for probiotic use in pediatric eczema.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of existing studies on probiotics and pediatric eczema.
- Analysis of evidence regarding probiotic efficacy, optimal timing, dosage, and specific strains.
- Evaluation of safety data for probiotic use in pregnant women and infants.
Main Results:
- Current evidence for probiotics preventing pediatric eczema is not robust, with potential effects dependent on specific factors like strain, dose, and duration.
- There is insufficient evidence to support the use of probiotics for treating established eczema.
- Probiotic administration to breastfeeding mothers and infants appears to be a safe option for eczema prevention.
Conclusions:
- While probiotics may offer a safe adjunctive strategy for eczema prevention, particularly prenatally and postnatally, their role in treatment remains unproven.
- Further research is needed to clarify the specific conditions under which probiotics may be effective.
- The clinical application of probiotics for pediatric eczema is expected to grow as more definitive answers emerge.
Abstract:
Pediatric eczema is a common disease which causes economic and social burden. Its incidence differs among the societies, with an incidence reported to reach up to 20% in developed countries. Eczema is the first allergic disease seen in the childhood, and it is recognized as a precursor for the development of atopic diseases such as asthma, allergic rhinitis, and food allergy in the forthcoming years of children. Increased incidence of eczema in recent years has led to new research in epidemiology, prevention, and intervention of this disease. It is no doubt important to treat itching, rash, and excoriation of the skin; however, treatment of pediatric eczema should not be considered only as a treatment of skin lesions. Considering skin treatment as the tip of the iceberg, proper management of the allergic processes can be accepted as the rest of the iceberg. The role of probiotics in the prevention of atopic eczema is yet to be clarified. Evidence presented by existing studies suggesting that probiotics may prevent pediatric eczema is not strong enough. A positive effect, if any, may be related with onset time, dose, duration, and use of specific probiotics. To date, there is no strong evidence for use of probiotics in the treatment of eczema; however, administration of probiotics in breast-feeding mothers in the prenatal period and in infants in the postnatal period can be accepted as a safe and helpful option in the prevention of eczema. Nevertheless, there are still questions to be answered in the future about probiotic administration for eczema. Clinical use of probiotics will gradually become more widespread when these questions are answered. Based on current information, the administration of probiotics for pediatric eczema topic is addressed in this review.
