HMOs: Shaping the Infant’s Healthy Gut Microbiota
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- Allergy is a hypersensitivity reaction caused by immunological response to an antigen.
- Food allergy affects between 4-10% of children younger than 5 years of age, and its prevalence has risen over the last decade.
The Role of Microbiota
Early life factors that affect allergy development are
- Mode of delivery (vaginal vs caesarean)
- Breast feeding
- Antibiotic exposure
Limited microbial exposure during early life appears to be implicated in the development of allergy.
Some studies have shown differences in the gut microbiome of allergic and non allergic children.
Repeated exposures to microbial antigens promote maturation of the gut immune system and regulate the activity of Th1, Th2 and Treg cells, which are implicated in development of tolerance and sensitization.
Prebiotics, Probiotics and Allergy Prevention
The strain of probiotic, the type of prebiotic, the time of administration, the clinical outcome may impact the effect on allergy prevention, but overall the evidence seems to be insufficient to harmonize clinical guidelines.
The World Allergy Organization recommends the use of probiotics in pregnant and breast-feeding women and in infants at high risk of allergy based on benefit for eczema prevention, although it cautions that it is a conditional recommendation based on very low-quality evidence.
As for prebiotic it recommends supplementation only in non-exclusively breastfed infants, recommendations for pregnant and breast-feeding women are not given due to the lack of studies.
For more information, please visit https://binc-geneva.org/en/2021/11/23/probiotics-and-prebiotics-in-allergy/.
This article is presented to you by
Biostime Institute for Nutrition and Care
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