The effect of multistrain synbiotic and vitamin D3 supplements on the severity of atopic dermatitis among infants under 1 year of age: a double-blind, randomized clinical trial study

Abstract

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the most common chronic and recurrent skin disease during infancy.

Objective: This study was aimed at evaluating the effect of synbiotic and vitamin D3 supplements on the severity of AD among infants under 1 year of age.

Methods: This double-blind, randomized clinical trial study was conducted on 81 subjects with AD in Sabzevar, Iran in 2018. Subjects were randomly assigned to three groups. Synbiotic group was administered a dose of five drops/day of synbiotic in addition to routine treatment. Vitamin D3 group was administered 1000 units (IU) of vitamin D3 daily in addition to routine treatment. Control group just received routine treatments. The severity of AD was evaluated using SCORing Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) at baseline and two months' follow-up.

Results: The mean age of subjects was 4.87 ± 3.5 and 59.26% (n = 48) were male. The mean SCOARD scores were substantially decreased in the synbiotic (b_xy: -13.90, 95% CI, -20.99, -6.81; p < .001) and vitamin D3 (b_xy: -12.38, 95% CI, -19.33, -5.43; p = .001) groups as compared to control one by the end of two months.

Conclusions: Findings suggest that multistrain synbiotic and vitamin D3 supplements administration along with routine treatments, as complementary therapies, may be effective in reducing the severity of AD in infants.

Keywords: Dermatitis; atopic; infant; synbiotics; vitamin D3.