School of Human Development and Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK.
NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust and University of Southampton, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK.
Nutrients. 2022 Apr 28;14(9):1852. doi: 10.3390/nu14091852.
The maternal immune system is very important in the development of the foetal immune system. Probiotics have been shown to help regulate immune responses. Therefore, it is possible that the administration of probiotics to pregnant women could influence the development of the foetal immune system, reducing the likelihood of infants and children developing an allergic condition. The aim of this research was to conduct a systematic review to determine whether administering probiotics to pregnant women can reduce the incidence of allergic disease in their children. Medline, CINAHL and Embase databases were searched for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that compared supplementation of probiotics to pregnant women to a placebo control and recorded the presentation of allergic conditions in their children. Data extracted from the study reports included their characteristics and findings. Study quality and risk of bias were assessed. From a total of 850 articles identified in the search, 6 were eligible for inclusion in this review. Two studies found no effect of maternal probiotics on the outcomes measured, two studies found that the incidence of eczema or atopic dermatitis (AD) was reduced by maternal probiotics, one study found no effect on the overall incidence of atopic sensitisation, but a reduction in a subgroup of children at high hereditary risk of allergic disease, and one study found no effect in an intention to treat analysis, but a reduction in AD in complete case analysis. The results of these studies are inconsistent but demonstrate that probiotics may have the potential to reduce infant allergies when administered prenatally, particularly in children at high risk of allergy development. There is a need for further larger-scale studies to be performed in order to provide a more definitive answer. Such studies should focus on at-risk groups.
母体免疫系统对于胎儿免疫系统的发育非常重要。益生菌已被证明有助于调节免疫反应。因此，给孕妇服用益生菌可能会影响胎儿免疫系统的发育，降低婴儿和儿童患过敏症的可能性。本研究的目的是进行系统评价，以确定给孕妇服用益生菌是否可以降低其子女患过敏病的几率。检索了 Medline、CINAHL 和 Embase 数据库中的随机对照试验（RCT），这些 RCT 将益生菌补充剂与安慰剂对照组进行了比较，并记录了其子女出现过敏情况。从研究报告中提取的数据包括其特征和发现。评估了研究质量和偏倚风险。在搜索中总共确定了 850 篇文章，其中 6 篇符合纳入本综述的标准。两项研究发现母亲服用益生菌对所测量的结果没有影响，两项研究发现母亲服用益生菌可降低湿疹或特应性皮炎（AD）的发病率，一项研究发现对特应性致敏的总体发病率没有影响，但在遗传上易患过敏疾病的亚组儿童中减少，一项研究在意向治疗分析中没有效果，但在完全病例分析中减少了 AD。这些研究的结果不一致，但表明益生菌在产前给予时可能具有降低婴儿过敏的潜力，尤其是在遗传上易患过敏发展的儿童中。需要进一步开展更大规模的研究，以提供更明确的答案。此类研究应集中于高危人群。
