The breastfed babies who received a probiotic treatment for three weeks developed gut microbes beneficial to their gut flora 30 days after the end of the treatment, according to the results of a study published in the medical journal “mSphere”.
Researchers at the University of California at Davis in the United States recruited 66 nursing mothers. In one group, 34 mothers fed their newborns for three weeks with Bifidobacterium longum subspecies infantis EVC001, a probiotic supplement. The other babies have just been breastfed. Analyzes of fecal samples from infants, collected during the first 60 days of life, revealed marked differences.
Probiotics for the production of intestinal flora
The results of the study showed that babies who received breastmilk and probiotics kept more good bacteria in their microbiota for up to a month after they stopped taking probiotics.
But, as soon as the mom stopsbreast-feed, the number of good bacteria has decreased.
“This fruitful combination could be explained by the good pairing between the” B. infantis “strain and the sugars present in breast milk to compose the microbiota” explained neonatologist Mark Underwood.
The study’s findings also showed that the stools of infants fed probiotics had fewer pathogens and higher levels of lactate and acetate, which make it easier for the probiotic to stimulate the fermentation of sugars in breast milk. .
“If mom can’t breast-feed, our hypothesis would be to give the baby a 3 week treatment of this probiotic and a formula with added human milk oligosaccharides. Colonization should occur and persist, ”concludes the researcher.
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