Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common skin disease during infancy, but the preventive effect of probiotics on AD remains unclear.
Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of probiotic supplementation for the prevention of AD in infants.
Methods: PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Embase databases were reviewed for relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Two authors independently extracted the data. The primary endpoint was the risk of AD in infants. Risk ratio (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated.
Results: A total of 20 related articles including 22 studies were included. A significant reduction in AD risk was revealed for the probiotic group compared to the control group (RR 0.76; 95% CI 0.67-0.87). Subgroup analyses by participant receiving intervention revealed that not only probiotics given to mother (RR 0.70; 95% CI 0.57-0.85) or given to mother and infant (RR 0.76; 95% CI 0.61-0.95) were effective in preventing AD in infants, and probiotics given to infants alone (RR 0.76; 95% CI 0.60-0.96) still effectively decreased the risk of AD.
Conclusion: Probiotic supplementation reduced the risk of developing AD in infants. Furthermore, probiotic supplementation given to mother or to mother and infant could effectively prevent AD in infants.
Keywords: Atopic dermatitis; Meta-analysis; Probiotics; Randomized controlled trials.