Probiotics can change infant gut bacteria to prevent cow milk allergy: Study.

Infants with allergies to cow’s milk can become tolerant after treatment with hydrolysed casein and a probiotic formula which alters their gut microbiome, according to a new study. 

The study, published in The ISME Journal, also found the microbiomes of infants with cow’s milk allergy (CMA) are significantly more diverse than those without the allergy, but without some key bacterial strains. Participants who became tolerant to cow’s milk had increases in levels of bacteria producing butyrate, a short­chain fatty acid which helps maintain homeostasis in the gut, but still maintained a very different bacterial makeup to healthy participants. 

Probiotic and casein formula 

The researchers gave a formula feed containing “extensively hydrolysed” casein (EHCF), along with the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) for some participants, to 19 cow­milk allergic infants aged less than 12 months, then measured the bacterial content of their faecal matter after six months. The team also took faeces samples from a control group of 20 infants without CMA who did not receive the supplements. 

Of the 12 infants receiving both EHCF and LGG, all showed enhanced levels of Blautia, Roseburia and Coprococcus bacteria, and five became tolerant to cow’s milk. None of the seven infants receiving just EHCF developed a tolerance, but did show enhanced levels of Roseburia bacteria alone. Four of the five newly­tolerant subjects had significantly higher faecal butyrate levels after taking the formula, suggesting greater numbers of butyrate­producing bacteria – but still far lower than the faecal butyrate levels in healthy subjects.