74. COW'S MILK (CM) WHEY PROTEIN AS A CAUSE OF INFANTILE COLIC IN FORMULA FED INFANTS. A DOUBLE-BLIND CROSS-OVER STUDY

Abstract

There are several causes to infantile colic. We have shown that bovine whey protein via the mother's milk can provoke infantile colic in breast-fed infants, and that formula-fed colicky infants can become symptom free on CM-free diet. The aim of this study was to evaluate, under controlled conditions, the effect of bovine whey protein given to colicky infants. We found in 24 out of 27 infants with severe colic that the symptoms disappeared when they were given a CM-free diet (Nutramigen). The mean age for colic debut was 6.4 weeks. These 24 infants were entered into a double-blind cross-over study. The infants (on CM-free diet) were given the contents of identical capsules with each meal, during day 6. The same procedure was repeated on day 10. The capsules contained either whey protein (with Nutramigen added) or human albumin powder (with Nutramigen added). We found that 18 infants reacted with colic on the whey protein challenge, 2 infants reacted with colic on placebo (p< 0.001) and 4 infants did not react at all. Crying hours per day for the 24 infants were 5.5 h on formula feeding and 1.0 h on Nutramigen (p< 0.001). Crying hours per day were 3.2 h on whey protein challenge and 0.96 h on placebo (p< 0.001). In conclusion: Bovine whey protein can give colic symptoms in infants with severe infantile colic.