SynthesisItalian journal of pediatrics2015
Probiotics for prevention of necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants: systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Italian journal of pediatrics, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 50 papers, 14 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
50 citing papers in PubMed, 14 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 132 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effectiveness of treatment with probiotics in preventing necrotizing enterocolitis and related mortality: results from an umbrella meta-analysis on meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials.BMC gastroenterology · 2025Pooled it
- Comparative efficacy of different single drugs to prevent necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants: an update systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2024Pooled it
- Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus for preventing necrotizing enterocolitis in very-low-birth-weight preterm infants: a systematic review and meta-analysis.World journal of pediatrics : WJP · 2020Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Probiotic strategies to prevent necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants: a meta-analysis.Pediatric surgery international · 2019Pooled it
- Clinical effect of probiotics in prevention or treatment of gastrointestinal disease in dogs: A systematic review.Journal of veterinary internal medicine · 2019Pooled it
- The influence of prebiotic or probiotic supplementation on antibody titers after influenza vaccination: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Drug design, development and therapy · 2018Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Probiotic supplementation in preterm infants does not affect the risk of retinopathy of prematurity: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Scientific reports · 2017Pooled it
- Effects of Probiotics on Necrotizing Enterocolitis, Sepsis, Intraventricular Hemorrhage, Mortality, Length of Hospital Stay, and Weight Gain in Very Preterm Infants: A Meta-Analysis.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2017Pooled it
- Probiotics Prevent Late-Onset Sepsis in Human Milk-Fed, Very Low Birth Weight Preterm Infants: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Nutrients · 2017Pooled it
- Standardized feeding regimen for reducing necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants: an updated systematic review.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2017Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Probiotics and Time to Achieve Full Enteral Feeding in Human Milk-Fed and Formula-Fed Preterm Infants: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Nutrients · 2016Pooled it
- Effect of a Multi-Strain Probiotic on the Incidence and Severity of Necrotizing Enterocolitis and Feeding Intolerances in Preterm Neonates.Nutrients · 2022Trial
- The Microbiome of Infants Recruited to a Randomised Placebo-controlled Probiotic Trial (PiPS Trial).EBioMedicine · 2017Trial
- From One-Size-Fits-All to Precision Medicine: The Promise of Personalized Probiotics.Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins · 2026Review
- Necrotizing Enterocolitis in Preterm Infants: An Inflammatory Condition at the Crossroads of Intestinal Immaturity, Dysbiosis, and Nutrition.International journal of pediatrics · 2026Review
- Microbiota decolonization of bacterial pathogens in pediatric surgery-related intestinal disorders: Insights on current strategies and future outlook.World journal of clinical pediatrics · 2025Review
- Advances in the acting mechanism and treatment of gut microbiota in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.Gut microbes · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) affects predominantly preterm infants, who have specific risk factors leading to intestinal dysbiosis. Manipulations of gut microbiota through probiotics have the potential to prevent NEC.The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the effect of probiotics for NEC prevention in preterm infants, with a focus on specific strains, microbiological strength of currently available studies, and high-risk populations. PubMed and the Cochrane Library were searched for trials published within 4th February 2015. Randomized-controlled trials reporting on NEC and involving preterm infants who were given probiotics in the first month of life were included in the systematic review.Twenty-six studies were suitable for inclusion in the meta-analysis.Data about study design, population, intervention and outcome were extracted and summarized independently by two observers. Study quality and quality of evidence were also evaluated.Fixed-effects models were used and random-effects models where significant heterogeneity was present. Subgroup analyses were performed to explore sources of heterogeneity among studies. Results were expresses as risk ratio (RR) with 95 % confidence interval (CI). The main outcome was incidence of NEC stage ≥2 according to Bell's criteria. Probiotics prevented NEC in preterm infants (RR 0.47 [95 % CI 0.36-0.60], p < 0.00001). Strain-specific sub-meta-analyses showed a significant effect for Bifidobacteria (RR 0.24 [95 % CI 0.10-0.54], p = 0.0006) and for probiotic mixtures (RR 0.39 [95 % CI 0.27-0.56], p < 0.00001). Probiotics prevented NEC in very-low-birth-weight infants (RR 0.48 [95 % CI 0.37-0.62], p < 0.00001); there were insufficient data for extremely-low-birth-weight infants. The majority of studies presented severe or moderate microbiological flaws.Probiotics had an overall preventive effect on NEC in preterm infants. However, there are still insufficient data on the specific probiotic strain to be used and on the effect of probiotics in high-risk populations such as extremely-low-birth-weight infants, before a widespread use of these products can be recommended.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.