Probiotics useful treatment option for allergies to food among pediatric patients finds study

Written by Dr. Shravani Dali Published On 2025-02-04T22:00:10+05:30 | Updated On 4 Feb 2025 10:00 PM IST

Probiotics useful treatment option for allergies to food among pediatric patients, finds study published in the Pediatric Allergy and Immunology.

This systematic review updated the available evidence on the effectiveness and safety of probiotics as a treatment of food allergy among pediatric patients. We conducted a systematic search for all randomized controlled trials available until March 13, 2024, that evaluated the effectiveness and safety of probiotics for treating pediatric food allergies. Two authors independently conducted the search, screening, and data extraction. Data analysis and synthesis were done using Review Manager 5.4 software. We included 13 articles involving 1608 pediatric patients with food allergies. Probiotics probably have no effect on reducing eczema scores among infants with CMA (MD -1.29 points, 95% CI -4.14, 1.56; moderate certainty of evidence), based on two studies. Probiotics may reduce eczema scores for children with various types of allergy (MD -23.08 points, 95% CI -27.55, -18.61; low certainty of evidence), based on one study. It is uncertain whether probiotics may lead to tolerance acquisition among infants with CMA (RR 0.58, 95% CI 0.34, 1.00) due to very low certainty of evidence. Subgroup analysis based on period showed significant benefit in inducing tolerance after at least 2 years (RR 0.44, 95% CI 0.29, 0.67; moderate certainty of evidence), suggesting a duration-dependent effect of probiotic usage. Subgroup analysis by probiotic preparation showed significant benefit for the LGG strain (RR 0.41, 95% CI 0.28, 0.62). Probiotics were generally well tolerated by the study participants. Further, well-designed RCTs focusing on specific types of food allergy, as well as the use of standardized probiotic strains, outcome measurement, and longer follow-up periods are needed to draw clinically relevant conclusions on the role of probiotics in treating children with food allergies.

Reference:

Tan-Lim CSC, Esteban-Ipac NAR. Systematic review and meta-analysis on probiotics as a treatment for food allergies among pediatric patients: A 2024 update. Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2025 Jan;36(1):e70028. doi: 10.1111/pai.70028. PMID: 39803979.

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Probioticsusefultreatmentoptionallergiesfoodamongpediatricpatientsfindsstudy

Source : Pediatric Allergy and Immunology

Dr. Shravani Dali

Dr. Shravani Dali has completed her BDS from Pravara institute of medical sciences, loni. Following which she extensively worked in the healthcare sector for 2+ years. She has been actively involved in writing blogs in field of health and wellness. Currently she is pursuing her Masters of public health-health administration from Tata institute of social sciences. She can be contacted at editorial@medicaldialogues.in.