SynthesisBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2016
Hydrolysed formula and risk of allergic or autoimmune disease: systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 72 papers, 10 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
72 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 206 citations in OpenAlex.
- ASCIA Guideline: Infant Feeding for Food Allergy Prevention.Clinical and experimental allergy : journal of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology · 2026Guideline
- Conduct and reporting of formula milk trials: systematic review.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2021Pooled it
- Protein hydrolysate versus standard formula for preterm infants.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019Pooled it
- Prevention of Allergic Sensitization and Treatment of Cow's Milk Protein Allergy in Early Life: The Middle-East Step-Down Consensus.Nutrients · 2019Guideline
- Infant formulas containing hydrolysed protein for prevention of allergic disease.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- Diet during pregnancy and infancy and risk of allergic or autoimmune disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PLoS medicine · 2018Pooled it
- Protein hydrolysate versus standard formula for preterm infants.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017Pooled it
- WITHDRAWN: Infant formulas containing hydrolysed protein for prevention of allergic disease and food allergy.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017Pooled it
- Infant formulas containing hydrolysed protein for prevention of allergic disease and food allergy.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017Pooled it
- Early additional food and fluids for healthy breastfed full-term infants.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016Pooled it
- Trial
- Functional Characterization of Glycated Peptide Aggregates in Whey Protein Hydrolysates.Food science & nutrition · 2025Article
- Cow's Milk Allergy and Associated Factors Among Children in Abha City, Saudi Arabia - A Retrospective Case Control Study.Journal of asthma and allergy · 2025Article
- Philippine guidelines on the dietary primary prevention of allergic diseases in children.Asia Pacific allergy · 2024Review
- Skin and oral intervention for food allergy prevention based on dual allergen exposure hypothesis.Clinical and experimental pediatrics · 2024Article
- Prevention of IgE-Mediated Food Allergy: Emerging Strategies Through Maternal and Neonatal Interventions.The journal of allergy and clinical immunology. In practice · 2024Review
- Making a SmartStart for peanut introduction to support food allergy prevention guidelines for infants.The journal of allergy and clinical immunology. Global · 2023Article
- Primary Prevention of Allergy - Is It Feasible?Allergy, asthma & immunology research · 2023Review
- Challenges implementing recent recommendations of daily formula supplementation for allergy prevention and practical real-world options.Paediatrics & child health · 2023Article
- A systematic review of quality and consistency of clinical practice guidelines on the primary prevention of food allergy and atopic dermatitis.The World Allergy Organization journal · 2023Article
12 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo determine whether feeding infants with hydrolysed formula reduces their risk of allergic or autoimmune disease.
designSystematic review and meta-analysis, as part of a series of systematic reviews commissioned by the UK Food Standards Agency to inform guidelines on infant feeding. Two authors selected studies by consensus, independently extracted data, and assessed the quality of included studies using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. DATA SOURCES: Medline, Embase, Web of Science, CENTRAL, and LILACS searched between January 1946 and April 2015. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR SELECTING STUDIES: Prospective intervention trials of hydrolysed cows' milk formula compared with another hydrolysed formula, human breast milk, or a standard cows' milk formula, which reported on allergic or autoimmune disease or allergic sensitisation.
results37 eligible intervention trials of hydrolysed formula were identified, including over 19,000 participants. There was evidence of conflict of interest and high or unclear risk of bias in most studies of allergic outcomes and evidence of publication bias for studies of eczema and wheeze. Overall there was no consistent evidence that partially or extensively hydrolysed formulas reduce risk of allergic or autoimmune outcomes in infants at high pre-existing risk of these outcomes. Odds ratios for eczema at age 0-4, compared with standard cows' milk formula, were 0.84 (95% confidence interval 0.67 to 1.07; I(2)=30%) for partially hydrolysed formula; 0.55 (0.28 to 1.09; I(2)=74%) for extensively hydrolysed casein based formula; and 1.12 (0.88 to 1.42; I(2)=0%) for extensively hydrolysed whey based formula. There was no evidence to support the health claim approved by the US Food and Drug Administration that a partially hydrolysed formula could reduce the risk of eczema nor the conclusion of the Cochrane review that hydrolysed formula could allergy to cows' milk.
conclusionThese findings do not support current guidelines that recommend the use of hydrolysed formula to prevent allergic disease in high risk infants. REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42013004252.
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Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.