Daily supplements of a multi-species probiotic food may reduce the risk of eczema by 58 per cent, according to a new study published in the European Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. The eczema-reducing properties were sustained until the age of two, according to results of a double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial with mothers and subsequently their babies with a family history of allergic disease. The study used one billion colony forming units (CFU) of each Bifidobacterium bifidum W23, Bifidobacterium lactis W52, and Lactococcus lactis W58.
157 pregnant women were randomly assigned to receive the probiotic mixture, or placebo, for the last two weeks of pregnancy. The infants subsequently received the supplements for their first year of life. The Dutch researchers report that parental-reported eczema was 58 per cent lower in the intervention group compared with placebo during the first three months of life. In vitro testing showed that production of IL-5, one of the protein-like cytokines produced by white blood cells called T-helper type 2 (Th2) lymphocytes during the immune response to allergy, was significantly lower in the probiotic-group compared with the placebo-group.
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