"Good bacteria" during pregnancy may ward off eczema

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Babies were less likely to get an itchy skin rash when their mothers took probiotics during pregnancy and while breastfeeding, in a new study from Finland.

Known as eczema, the rash is caused by an allergic reaction and hints at future problems with allergies and asthma.

Researchers said it's possible that probiotics - which are thought to help balance bacteria populations in the gut and prevent disease-causing strains from spreading - may influence babies' health through immune cells that cross the placenta and later are passed in breast milk.

Still, it's too early to send all pregnant women out to buy "good bacteria" supplements, some researchers said.

"While our results are promising, it is not yet possible to make recommendations for routine use of probiotics to reduce the risk of eczema," the study's lead author told Reuters Health in an email.

For the new study, Dr. Samuli Rautava of Turku University Central Hospital and his colleagues assigned 241 pregnant women to take one of two different probiotic combinations, given as a powder mixed with water once daily, or a bacteria-free placebo powder.

All of those mothers-to-be had a history of allergies, so their babies were at extra-high risk of eczema and other allergic reactions.

The women drank their assigned concoction for the last two months of pregnancy and their first two months of breastfeeding. Researchers then tracked their babies' health for two years to see how many developed rashes.

By the end of the study, 71 percent of babies in the placebo group had had eczema at least once, compared to 29 percent of babies whose mothers took either probiotic combination. Chronic eczema was diagnosed in 26 percent of placebo kids, compared to 10 percent and six percent, respectively, of those in the two probiotic groups.

However, by age two there was no difference in kids' sensitivities to a range of allergens, including milk, wheat, soy and dog and cat dander, based on whether their mothers had taken the supplements. About one-quarter of kids had a positive "skin prick" test for sensitivity to an allergen, the researchers reported last week in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

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"Good bacteria" during pregnancy may ward off eczema