title: Effect of formula thickened with reduced concentration of locust bean gum on gastroesophageal reflux.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Previous studies showed that HL-350, a formula thickened with a reduced concentration of locust bean gum, decreased frequent regurgitation in 4-month old infants with reflux. In this study, we investigated the effect of HL-350 in younger infants.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 20 infants less than 2 months old who had three or more episodes of regurgitation or vomiting per day. Ten infants (group A) were fed with HL-350 for the first week, and with control milk, HL-00, for the following week. The other 10 infants (group B) were fed in reverse order. Mothers recorded number of regurgitation episodes, feeding volume and time and number of bowel movements. To evaluate gastric emptying we measured antral cross sectional areas ultrasonographically at various time points after feeding.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median number of regurgitation episodes decreased significantly with feeding of HL-350 (2.3/day) compared to feeding with control milk (5.2/day) (p = 0.00048). No significant difference was evident in feeding volume and time, body weight gain, or gastric emptying rate between HL-350 and control milk.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HL-350 decreased the number of regurgitation episodes without affecting gastric emptying delay in very young infants with recurrent vomiting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Developmental Medicine, Gunma University Graduate School, Maebashi, Japan. rmiyazaw@med.gunma-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Miyazawa
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tomomasa
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Arakawa
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morikawa
mesh_terms: D005685:Galactans; D005746:Gastric Emptying / Q000502:physiology; D005764:Gastroesophageal Reflux / Q000178:diet therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D041943:Infant Formula / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008351:Mannans; D053149:Plant Gums; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014839:Vomiting / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000517:prevention & control
chemical_list: D005685:Galactans; D008351:Mannans; D053149:Plant Gums; C017471:locust bean gum