Probiotics During Pregnancy May Reduce Infants Allergies

By Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS, August 26, 2008, abstracted from “Impact of maternal atopy and probiotic supplementation during pregnancy on infant sensitization: a double-blind placebo-controlled study” in the August 2008 issue of Clinical & Experimental Allergy

The mother’s diet plays a very important role in the health of her newborn baby. Specific nutrients in the mother’s diet known to help infant health include vitamin C1, vitamin E2, vitamin B-33, and calcium4. The health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids for infants include helping improve eye and brain health5, helping maintain a healthy blood pressure6, improving eye-hand coordination7 and even helping with long-term lung health8.

A recent study9 has found that probiotics, suggested in previous research to possibly play a role in pregnancy health10, may also help with infant allergies. These allergies cost our healthcare system $7 billion per year11. In the study, 171 women with newborns12 were given either probiotics containing lactobacillus rhamnosus and Bifidobacterium lactis (1 × 1010 colony forming units each per day) or placebo from the first trimester of pregnancy to the end of exclusive breastfeeding. The researchers collected breast milk immediately after birth to measure for levels of inflammatory proteins that included IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, IL-10, IL-6, IL-4 and IL-2. They also tested allergy sensitivity in the infants by performing the skin prick test (SPT).

The researchers found there were no significant differences overall in the infants’ risk of allergies between the two groups (29% of probiotic infants vs. 31% of placebo infants). However, a significant risk reduction was seen in infants breastfed for more than 2.5 months by mothers with allergies. Specifically, only 26% of the at-risk infants in the probiotic group were sensitized for allergies while 50% of at-risk infants in the control group were sensitized.

While stating that “probiotics belong among the promising means of combating the allergy epidemic”, the reduced risk of allergies in infants through probiotic supplementation led the researchers to conclude that “the critical period of pregnancy and breastfeeding may be the window of opportunity in allergy prevention.”

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Danville, CA. You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at mailto:PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.CompleteChiropracticHealthcare.com

Reference:

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11 “Allergy Facts and Figures” posted on http://www.aafa.org/display.cfm?id=9&sub=30

12 Piirainen T, Isolauri E, Lagström H, Laitinen K. Impact of dietary counselling on nutrient intake during pregnancy: a prospective cohort study. Br J Nutr 2006; 96:1095–104