The results of the present meta- analysis show that probiotic supplementation  prevents infantile eczema , thus suggesting a new potential indication for probiotic use in pregnancy and infancy
Growing evidence underlines the pivotal role of infant gut colonization in the development of the immune system .
The possibility to modify gut colonization through probiotic supplementation in childhood might prevent atopic diseases .
The aim of the present systematic review and meta- analysis was to evaluate the effect of probiotic supplementation during pregnancy and early infancy in preventing atopic diseases .
Diversity of the gut microbiota and eczema in early life
Background A modest number of prospect i ve studies of the composition of the intestinal microbiota and eczema in early life have yielded conflicting results . Objective To examine the relationship between the bacterial diversity of the gut and the development of eczema in early life by methods other than stool culture . Methods Fecal sample s were collected from 21 infants at 1 and 4 months of life . Nine infants were diagnosed with eczema by the age of 6 months ( cases ) and 12 infants were not ( controls ) . After conducting denaturating gradient gel electrophoresis ( DGGE ) of stool sample s , we compared the microbial diversity of cases and controls using the number of electrophoretic b and s and the Shannon index of diversity ( H ' ) as indicators . Results Control subjects had significantly greater fecal microbial diversity than children with eczema at ages 1 ( mean H ' for controls = 0.75 vs. 0.53 for cases , P = 0.01 ) and 4 months ( mean H ' for controls = 0.92 vs. 0.59 for cases , P = 0.02 ) . The increase in diversity from 1 to 4 months of age was significant in controls ( P = 0.04 ) but not in children who developed eczema by 6 months of age ( P = 0.32 ) . Conclusion Our findings suggest that reduced microbial diversity is associated with the development of eczema in early life
The results of the present meta- analysis show that probiotic supplementation  prevents infantile eczema , thus suggesting a new potential indication for probiotic use in pregnancy and infancy
Growing evidence underlines the pivotal role of infant gut colonization in the development of the immune system .
The possibility to modify gut colonization through probiotic supplementation in childhood might prevent atopic diseases .
The aim of the present systematic review and meta- analysis was to evaluate the effect of probiotic supplementation during pregnancy and early infancy in preventing atopic diseases .