1234516Nutritional ingredients such as specific pre- and probiotics can influence the immune system directly1 and indirectly via modulation of the gut microbiota. 1–5 When given in early life, they can help create the optimal conditions for the immune system to be trained in the right way.
PREBIOTICS – scGOS/lcFOS (9:1)
Prebiotics are non-digestible dietary carbohydrates that travel to the colon intact and are able to selectively stimulate the growth and activity of beneficial bacteria.6
Prebiotic oligosaccharides are an abundant bioactive component in human milk. For infants who are unable to breastfeed, Danone Nutricia Research have developed a unique and patented blend of prebiotic – short-chain galacto-oligosaccharides and long chain fructo-oligosaccharides, namely scGOS/lcFOS (9:1). The health benefits of scGOS/lcFOS (9:1) in early life are validated in over 30 clinical studies, described in more than 55 scientific publications and include:
• Reduced incidence of allergic symptoms, such as atopic dermatitis7, 8, 9
• Increased level of healthy gut bacteria and reduced level of potentially harmful bacteria10
• Reduced occurrence of infections11,12
• Improved stool frequency and consistency
We have also demonstrated the favourable health benefit of the use of this specific mixture of prebiotics results in positive short and long-term health economic benefits.13
PREBIOTICS – scFOS-lcFOS (9:1)
Infants with severe Cow’s Milk Allergy (CMA) and Multiple Food Allergy (MFA) cannot tolerate even traces of cow’s milk. For those are unable to breastfeed, an infant formula containing an adapted prebiotic is required and oligofructose (scFOS) has been identified as a suitable alternative to scGOS:
• it is plant-derived;
• it is cow’s milk free;
• it promotes bifidobacteria and has a similar oligosaccharide structure to scGOS.
PROBIOTICS
Probiotics are live microrganisms, which when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host.6 As well as being found in common foodstuffs such as fermented milk, fermented vegetables and yoghurt, they are also present in human milk. In fact, human milk contains around 103-104 cfu/ml, making it rich source of potential commensal bacteria for the infant14,15
Bifidobacterium breve is commonly found in the gut of healthy breastfed infants and also in human milk. Our preclinical research has demonstrated that Bifidobacterium breve M-16V is the most promising strain in reducing allergic symptoms, and has been shown to have anti-allergic properties.16 It has also demonstrated synergistic benefits when combined with our unique prebiotic mixture scGOS/lcFOS (9:1).17,18
Selected among 400 different strains and supported by >17 clinical studies including preterms, since 1994, B Breve M16V has been clinically proven to:
• Improve allergic symptoms in infants with IgE-mediated atopic dermatitis19
• Improve diaper dermatitis and gastrointestinal symptoms19
• Prevent asthma-like symptoms20
Read more about Our allergy research innovations
SYNBIOTICS: scGOS/lcFOS (9:1) or FOS/FOS + B breve M-16V
Synbiotics are a combination of pre and probiotics that work synergistically. At Danone Nutricia Research, we have developed a specific, synbiotic combination that acts synergistically, not only to resolve allergy symptoms in infants21, 22, 23 but also to restore the composition of the gut microbiota to reflect that of healthy breastfed infants.23,24
Recent data has shown that it is safe and suitable for the use in the dietary management of CMA and that, after eight weeks of use, it results in a significantly higher percentage of faecal bifidobacteria compared to standard amino acid formula, without synbiotics. In addition, faecal bifidobacteria levels in infants using an amino acid formula with synbiotics are closer to levels seen in age-matched healthy subjects.25
