Observational studyScientific reports2018
Probiotic supplementation and associated infant gut microbiome and health: a cautionary retrospective clinical comparison.
Observational study in Scientific reports, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 79 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
79 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Breastfeeding Affects Concentration of Faecal Short Chain Fatty Acids During the First Year of Life: Results of the Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Pooled it
- Effect of a high-dose bioactive components formula on reducing common diseases in term neonates delivered by cesarean section: a randomized, open-label, controlled trial.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Trial
- Potential Benefit of Probiotic E. Coli Nissle in Term Neonates.Klinische Padiatrie · 2023Trial
- Changes in peripheral immune populations during pregnancy and modulation by probiotics and ω-3 fatty acids.Scientific reports · 2020Trial
- Next-generation probiotics: an outlook into current applications and future developments.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2026Review
- Effect of Probiotics on the Gut-Mammary Pathway: Implications on Infant Microbiota Transfer and Development.Current nutrition reports · 2026Review
- The human breast milk microbiome: a landscape review of its composition, origins, and impact on infant health.Archives of microbiology · 2026Review
- Longitudinal analysis of human milk oligosaccharides and mucin-2-glycans in infants reveals enrichment of sulfated and glucuronic acid-bearing HMOs.The Journal of biological chemistry · 2026Article
- Research of heat-killed Loigolactobacillus coryniformis NA-3 and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum NA as potential substitutes for live strains in immune regulation and anti-inflammatory effects.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2026Article
- Gut commensal Parabacteroides goldsteinii protects against Salmonella infection in mice by enhancing innate defense function.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2026Article
- Early-life microbiota exposure and prevention of childhood asthma: immunological mechanisms and intervention perspectives.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Review
- Retrospective insights into probiotic and prebiotic interventions: associations with gut microbiota profiles and nutritional outcomes.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Identifying gut microbiota composition disparities in autistic individuals and their unaffected siblings: correlations with clinical characteristics.Translational psychiatry · 2025Article
- The ladder of regulatory stringency and balance: an application to the US FDA's regulation of bacterial live therapeutics.Gut microbes · 2025Review
- Evaluating the Adjuvant Therapeutic Effects of Probiotic StrainsAnimals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- A native bacterial consortium degrades estriol in domestic sewage and activated sludge via the 4,5-Microbiology spectrum · 2025Article
- Assessing the Antibiotic Resistance in Food Lactic Acid Bacteria: Risks in the Era of Widespread Probiotic Use.Food science & nutrition · 2025Review
- Evaluation ofThe World Allergy Organization journal · 2025Article
- Oral microbiota and respiratory diseases: advances and perspectives.Clinical microbiology reviews · 2025Review
- Full-length 16S rRNA Sequencing Reveals Gut Microbiome Signatures Predictive of MASLD in children with obesity.BMC microbiology · 2025Article
19 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
While probiotics are a multi-billion dollar industry, there is little evidence to show that supplementing infants provides any health benefits. We conducted an observational study where 35 of 86 participating mothers self-administered probiotics during breastfeeding, as well as directly to their infants. The primary objective was to determine if probiotic exposure influenced the infants' fecal microbiome while the secondary objective assessed associated changes to the mothers' breast milk immunity and infant health. Analysis of infant fecal microbiome throughout the first 6 months of life revealed that probiotics were associated with higher abundances of Bifidobacterium at week 1 only. Short-chain fatty acid production and predicted metagenomic functions of the microbial communities were not altered. While probiotics did not alter breast milk immune markers, fecal sIgA responses were higher among probiotic supplemented infants. Surprisingly, this was not associated with better health outcomes, as the probiotic cohort had higher incidences of mucosal-associated illnesses as toddlers. This retrospective clinical comparison suggests that probiotic exposure during infancy has limited effects on gut microbial composition yet is associated with increased infection later in life. These correlative findings caution against probiotic supplementation during infancy until rigorous controlled follow-up studies determining their safety and efficacy have occurred.
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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.