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. 2022 Sep 3;14(17):3646.
doi: 10.3390/nu14173646.

Neonatal Morbidities and Feeding Tolerance Outcomes in Very Preterm Infants, before and after Introduction of Probiotic Supplementation

Ayoub Mitha  1   2 , Sofia Söderquist Kruth  3   4 , Sara Bjurman  5 , Alexander Rakow  4   6 , Stefan Johansson  1   5
Affiliations

Neonatal Morbidities and Feeding Tolerance Outcomes in Very Preterm Infants, before and after Introduction of Probiotic Supplementation

Ayoub Mitha et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

While probiotics are reported to reduce the risks of neonatal morbidities, less is known about probiotics and feeding tolerance. With this retrospective cohort study, we investigate whether introduction of probiotic supplementation as the standard of care was associated with fewer neonatal morbidities and improved feeding tolerance in very preterm infants. Using the Swedish Neonatal Quality Register, 345 live-born very preterm infants (28-31 weeks' gestation), from January 2019-August 2021, in NICUs in Stockholm, Sweden, either received probiotic supplementation (Bifidobacterium infantis, Bifidobacterium lactis, Streptococcusthermophilus) (139) or no supplementation (206); they were compared regarding a primary composite outcome of death, sepsis, and/or necrotising enterocolitis and secondary outcomes: time to full enteral feeding and antibiotics use. Probiotics seemed associated with a reduced risk of the composite outcome (4.3% versus 9.2%, p = 0.08). In the subgroup of 320 infants without the primary outcome, probiotics were associated with shorter time to full enteral feeding (6.6 days versus 7.2 days) and less use of antibiotics (5.2 days versus 6.1 days). Our findings suggest that probiotics improve feeding tolerance and further support that very preterm infants may benefit from probiotic supplementation.

Keywords: antibiotic; feeding tolerance; full enteral feeding; necrotising enterocolitis; neonatal morbidities; probiotic supplementation; very preterm infants.

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Conflict of interest statement

A.M., S.K., S.B. and A.R. declare no conflicts of interest. S.J. is a founder of Neobiomics, a start-up affiliated with Karolinska Institutet Innovations AB. Neobiomics has collaborated with Chr. Hansen A/S in Denmark to manufacture ProPrems, the probiotics food supplement used in Stockholm.

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