Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35565819›Full record

SynthesisNutrients2022

Do Probiotics in Pregnancy Reduce Allergies and Asthma in Infancy and Childhood? A Systematic Review.

Alexander S Colquitt, Elizabeth A Miles, Philip C Calder

Open access · goldAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Nutrients, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
25citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
4.1field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

25 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  4. Trial
  5. Heavy moms, wheezy kids: how maternal obesity harms breathing in offspring.American journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology · 2026
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  11. Research progress on the application ofFrontiers in nutrition · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Alexander S ColquittSchool of Human Development and Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK.
Elizabeth A MilesSchool of Human Development and Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-8643-0655
Philip C CalderSchool of Human Development and Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-6038-710X
University of Southampton · GBUniversity Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The maternal immune system is very important in the development of the foetal immune system. Probiotics have been shown to help regulate immune responses. Therefore, it is possible that the administration of probiotics to pregnant women could influence the development of the foetal immune system, reducing the likelihood of infants and children developing an allergic condition. The aim of this research was to conduct a systematic review to determine whether administering probiotics to pregnant women can reduce the incidence of allergic disease in their children. Medline, CINAHL and Embase databases were searched for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that compared supplementation of probiotics to pregnant women to a placebo control and recorded the presentation of allergic conditions in their children. Data extracted from the study reports included their characteristics and findings. Study quality and risk of bias were assessed. From a total of 850 articles identified in the search, 6 were eligible for inclusion in this review. Two studies found no effect of maternal probiotics on the outcomes measured, two studies found that the incidence of eczema or atopic dermatitis (AD) was reduced by maternal probiotics, one study found no effect on the overall incidence of atopic sensitisation, but a reduction in a subgroup of children at high hereditary risk of allergic disease, and one study found no effect in an intention to treat analysis, but a reduction in AD in complete case analysis. The results of these studies are inconsistent but demonstrate that probiotics may have the potential to reduce infant allergies when administered prenatally, particularly in children at high risk of allergy development. There is a need for further larger-scale studies to be performed in order to provide a more definitive answer. Such studies should focus on at-risk groups.

Indexed as

AsthmaDermatitis, AtopicHypersensitivityProbioticsChildFemaleHumansInfantPregnancyPrenatal Careallergyasthmaatopic dermatitischildhoodeczemaimmune developmentinfancymicrobiotapregnancyprobiotic

Identifiers

PMID35565819
PMCPMC9105059
OpenAlexW4225165264

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.