Association of Atopic Dermatitis (AD) Severity to Milk and Egg Allergy Outcomes in a Cohort of Atopic, Food-allergic Children (COFAR)

Abstract

FEBRUARY 2011 AB36 Abstracts S A T U R D A Y 125 Prenatal Probiotic Supplementation is Associated with Reduced sCD14 and Total IgA in Breast Milk I. Ismail, P. Licciardi, F. Oppedisano, S. Donath, M. Tang; Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, AUSTRALIA, Royal Children’s Hopsital, Melbourne, AUSTRALIA. RATIONALE:The prevalence of atopic disease is increasing especially in the developed world. Altered gut microbiota is associated with immune dysregulation and development of allergic disease. Modulation of intestinal microbiota by probiotic supplementation offers an attractive preventive measure. Prenatal probiotic administration to mothers may induce immunomodulatory factors in breast milk, and hence influence infant immune development. The effect ofmaternal probiotic supplementation on immune markers in breast milk was explored. METHODS: Day 7 and day 28 breast milk samples were collected from women who participated in a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled study of prenatal probiotic for the prevention of eczema. Pregnant mothers received 1.8x1010 cfu Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) daily from 36 weeks gestation until delivery, or maltodextrin placebo. Aqueous phase breast milk samples (LGG n535, placebo n538) were assayed for TGFb1 and sCD14 by ELISA, and total IgA by nephelometry. RESULTS: Breast milk sCD14 at day 7 and total IgA at day 28 were significantly lower in the LGG group as compared to the placebo group (P50.02 and P50.01, respectively). There were no differences in levels of TGF-b1 between the probioticand placebo-treated groups at any time point. CONCLUSIONS: Prenatal supplementation with LGG during late pregnancy lowers breast milk levels of sCD14 and total IgA. This suggests that maternal supplementation with probiotic LGGmay not provide a beneficial effect to infants through breast feeding. Correlation between these breast milk factors and eczema outcome in infants at 12months is currently ongoing.