Probiotics use in mothers limits eczema in their babies

Mothers who drank milk with a probiotic supplement during and after pregnancy were able to cut the incidence of eczema in their children by almost half, a new study published in the British Journal of Dermatology has shown.

The randomized, double-blind study, conducted by researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), compared mothers who drank one glass of probiotic milk a day to women who were given a placebo. Use of the probiotic milk – which the mothers drank beginning at week 36 in their pregnancy up through to three months after birth -- reduced the incidence of eczema by 40 percent in children up to age two, the researchers found. The study is a part of a larger research project at the university called the Prevention of Allergy Among Children in Trondheim, or PACT, an ongoing population-based intervention study in Norway focused on childhood allergy.

Researchers followed 415 pregnant women and their children from pregnancy until the children were two years old. The participants were randomly selected among pregnant women in Trondheim - and then randomly divided into two groups, one of which was given milk with probiotics, and the other a placebo milk. Mothers in the study did not know whether they were given the probiotic milk or the placebo milk.

"The taste of both products was similar, and the milk was delivered in unmarked milk cartons. This means that neither the participants in the study or the researchers knew who had received probiotic milk or placebo milk," says NTNU researcher Torbjørn Øien, one of the scientists involved in the study. "We can therefore say with great certainty that it was the probiotic bacteria alone that caused the difference in the incidence of eczema between the two groups."

The children were checked for eczema throughout the period, as well as for asthma and allergy at age two. Afterwards, the incidence of asthma, eczema and allergy was compared in the two groups.

"The results showed that probiotic bacteria reduced the incidence of eczema in children up to age two years by 40 percent. And the kids in 'probiotics group' who did have eczema, had less severe cases," explains Christian Kvikne Dotterud, a student in the Medical Student Research Programme at the Department of Community Medicine at NTNU.

The study did not show any effect from the probiotic milk on asthma or allergies, however.

Dotterud and his research colleagues have started a follow-up study of the children to see if they find any preventive effect on allergic diseases, especially asthma, when children have reached six years old.

"Our study is the first to show that certain probiotic bacteria given to the mother during pregnancy and breast-feeding prevents eczema," says Dotterud.

Previous studies have shown that ingestion of some probiotics by children may prevent eczema, but this is the first study to show a preventative effect when the mother alone consumed the probiotics.

"In Norway, there has been some skepticism about giving infants probiotics. Therefore, it is preferable that mothers take probiotics, not children," he said. Probiotics are generally considered safe for healthy people.

To participate in the study mothers had to have planned to breastfeed their children.

"We believe that probiotic bacteria affects breast milk composition in a positive way," Dotterud said.

The study was sponsored by Tine SA, which produced and distributed the milk used in the study. Tine SA is s Norway's largest producer, distributor and exporter of dairy products, and is a cooperative owned by 15,084 Norwegian dairy farmers. Tine SA had no role in the study designs, data collection or data analysis.

The results of the study have been published in the journal The British Journal of Dermatology. The article is entitled: Probiotics in pregnant women to prevent allergic disease: a randomised, double-blind trial [Epub ahead of print]

PACT, the Prevention of Allergy Among Children in Trondheim study - was started in 2000 as a primary prevention, controlled study to look at measures that might reduce the increase in the incidence of asthma and allergies that has been recorded in Norway in recent decades.

It is an ongoing population-based intervention study in Norway focused on the impacts on childhood allergy of systematic and structure interventions to reduce tobacco exposure, increase the consumption of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, and reduce indoor dampness.

Contact: Corresponding author: Chirstian Kvkne Dotterud, 00 47 99 64 16 62, email: dotterud@stud.ntnu.no

A copy of the journal article may be found at: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/123506894/PDFSTART