Probiotics and allergy in children--an update review.
The hygiene hypothesis suggests that the increased prevalence of allergic diseases has resulted from a relative lack of microbial stimuli during infancy and early childhood. Children with atopic diseases have different commensal bacterial groups in the gut compared to non-atopic children, and differences are also found between countries with high and low incidence of atopic diseases. Probiotics are defined as live microorganisms that provide benefits to the health of a host by altering the host's microflora when they are administered in adequate amounts. They are being investigated for possible roles in managing allergic diseases. To date, the evidence that probiotics can be used to treat or prevent allergic diseases of children remains controversial. We reviewed recent randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trials using probiotics for allergic diseases of children and evaluated their clinical efficacy, possible mechanisms, dosage, and safety for managing allergic diseases of children. The current data are insufficient to strongly recommend probiotics as a standard treatment or preventative measure for pediatric allergic disease. More studies are needed to standardize study designs, bacterial strains, dosages, and durations for different allergic diseases of children.
Pan
Shih-Jin
SJ
Department of Pediatrics, Kaohsiung Armed Forces General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Kuo
Chang-Hung
CH
Lam
Ka-Pan
KP
Chu
Yu-Te
YT
Wang
Wei-Li
WL
Hung
Chih-Hsing
CH
D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D006920:Hygiene; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D051379:Mice; D018448:Models, Immunological; D015995:Prevalence; D019936:Probiotics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D058408:Th1-Th2 Balance