There is some evidence that prebiotic added to infant formula may prevent eczema and asthma in infants. However, there is some concern about the reliability of the evidence due to not all trials reporting allergy outcomes and trials not reporting the outcome for all infants. Reactions to foods and allergies (including asthma, eczema and hay fever) are common and may be increasing. Many infants become sensitised to foods, including infant formula, through their gastrointestinal tract, a process that may be affected by the composition of the intestinal bacteria. Attempts to promote the growth of normal gastrointestinal bacteria and prevent sensitisation to foods have included the addition of prebiotic to infant formula. Prebiotics are nondigestible food components that help by selectively stimulating the growth or activity of 'healthy' bacteria in the colon. This review found some evidence that a prebiotic supplement added to infant feeds may prevent eczema in infants up to two years of age. It is unclear whether the use of prebiotic should be restricted to infants at high risk of allergy or may have an effect in low risk populations; or whether it may have an effect on other allergic diseases including asthma. However, further research is needed to confirm the findings before routine use of prebiotics can be recommended for prevention of allergy.
Further research is needed before routine use of prebiotics can be recommended for prevention of allergy in formula fed infants. There is some evidence that a prebiotic supplement added to infant feeds may prevent eczema. It is unclear whether the use of prebiotic should be restricted to infants at high risk of allergy or may have an effect in low risk populations; or whether it may have an effect on other allergic diseases including asthma.
Prebiotics (commonly oligosaccharides) added to infant feeds have the potential to prevent sensitisation of infants to dietary allergens.
To determine the effect of prebiotic given to infants for the prevention of allergy.
We performed an updated search in August 2012 of the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library 2012, Issue 8), MEDLINE, EMBASE, conference proceedings, citations, expert informants and clinical trials registries.
Randomised and quasi-randomised controlled trials that compared the use of a prebiotic to no prebiotic, or a specific prebiotic compared to a different prebiotic in infants for prevention of allergy.
Assessment of trial quality, data extraction and synthesis of data were performed using the standard methods of The Cochrane Collaboration.
The 2012 update identified 13 studies classified as ongoing or awaiting classification (yet to report allergy outcomes). Forty-three studies were excluded, primarily as no allergy data were reported, although none of these enrolled infants were at high risk of allergy. Four studies enrolling 1428 infants were eligible for inclusion. All studies were at high risk of attrition bias. Allergy outcomes were reported from four months to two years of age.
Meta-analysis of two studies (226 infants) found no significant difference in infant asthma although significant heterogeneity was found between studies. Meta-analysis of four studies found a significant reduction in eczema (1218 infants, typical risk ratio 0.68, 95% CI 0.48 to 0.97; typical risk difference -0.04, 95% CI -0.07 to -0.00; number needed to treat to benefit (NNTB) 25, 95% CI 14 to > 100; P = 0.03). No statistically significant heterogeneity was found between studies. One study reported no significant difference in urticaria.
No statistically significant subgroup differences were found according to infant risk of allergy or type of infant feed. However, individual studies reported a significant reduction in asthma and eczema from supplementation with a mixture of galacto- and fructo-oligosaccharide (GOS/FOS 9:1 ratio) (8 g/L) in infants at high risk of allergy; and in eczema from supplementation with GOS/FOS (9:1) (6.8 g/L) and acidic oligosacccharide (1.2 g/L) in infants not selected for allergy risk.