Evidence on postbiotics in infants and children

The aim is to provide updated information on the concept of postbiotics and recent data on the efficacy of postbiotics for the prevention and treatment of childhood diseases.

In line with a recently proposed consensus definition, a postbiotic is 'a preparation of inanimate microorganisms and/or their components that confers a health benefit on the host'. Although inanimate, postbiotics may exert health benefits. There are only limited data on infant formulas containing postbiotics, but they are well tolerated, support adequate growth and demonstrate no potential identifiable risks, although clinical benefits remain limited. Currently, there is only limited support for postbiotic use for treating diarrhoea and preventing common paediatric infectious diseases in young children. Given the limited evidence, sometimes with a high risk of bias, caution is justified. No data in older children and adolescents are available.

The consensus definition of postbiotics facilitates further research. As not all postbiotics are the same, the type of disease and specific postbiotic studied should be considered when choosing postbiotics for the prevention or treatment of childhood diseases. Additional studies are needed to assess disease conditions responsive to postbiotics. Mechanisms of action of postbiotics need to be evaluated and characterized.