Over 30% of infants with eczema, allergic rhinitis, and asthma already showed signs of an allergy prior to 4 months of age.
These alarming findings highlight the importance of oral tolerance, the immune system's ability to accept certain food proteins or antigens without triggering an allergic reaction, in the early postnatal period.
Breastfeeding and breastmilk composition are most critical when examining the effectiveness of oral tolerance, as breastmilk contains many bioactive compounds which promote an infant's immunity.
The Gateway to Allergy Prevention study aims to examine whether maternal prebiotic supplementation promotes an enhanced immunomodulatory breastmilk composition likely to promote infant oral tolerance, and reduce food allergy in breastfed children.
Prebiotics are substances that good bacteria in our bodies use to stay healthy. Two well-studied types of prebiotics are fructooligosaccharides (FOS) and galactooligosaccharides (GOS), which are made in labs and help improve health.
The study will examine breastmilk samples of 100 mother and child paired participants at four different stages of lactation (<1 week, 2 months, 3-4 months and 6 months post-partum) where the mother ingested prebiotic supplements.
From these samples, the study hopes to determine:
- Whether the maternal consumption of prebiotics is modulating the levels of bioactive compounds in breastmilk that are expected to influence allergy risk in offspring.
- Define breastmilk profile(s) asociated with low allergy risk and determine whether the breatmilk composition of mothers supplemented with prebiotics is associated with enhanced tolerogenic properties.
Investigators
- Dr. Patricia Macchiaverni at The Kids Research Institute Australia
- Professor Valerie Verhasselt at The Kids Research Institute Australia
- Dr. Debbie Palmer at The Kids Research Institute Australia
- Nivedithaa Divakara, UWA PhD Student at The Kids Research Institute Australia
For futher information, contact origins@thekids.org.au