Prebiotics in infant milk formulas: new perspectives

In recent years it has become accepted that healthy human intestinal microflora may play an important part in priming the infants’ systemic and mucosal immunity. Dietary modulation of the gut microbiota is a topical area of nutritional sciences and the focus of many current functional foods such as Non-Digestible Oligosaccharides (NDOs). Fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) and Galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) have been claimed to benefit the health of the colon by selectively stimulating the growth of Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli (prebiotic effect). It could be of clinical interest to manipulate colonic flora because it is supposed that specific bacteria in the gut microbial microflora could promote potentially antiallergenic processes and play a key part in atopic disease prevention. Supporting this view is the finding that analysis of the composition of the intestinal bacterial populations showed different microbial patterns between healthy and allergic individuals. Assuming that non-digestible GOS and FOS can affect the intestinal ecosystem beneficially, the opportunity for gut flora manipulation arises in bottle-fed infants. New preterm and term infant milk formulas, supplemented with a mixture of GOS and FOS as prebiotic ingredients induced a significantly higher colonization of Bifidobacteria and lactobacilli.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Of all the NDOs, the inulin-type fructans (inulin and FOS), GOS and lactulose have been the most thoroughly investigated. For them, a prebiotic effect has been convincingly proved. A European Commission-funded project on Non-Digestible Oligosaccharides, the ENDO project (DGXII AIRII-CT94-1095) stated that there is strong evidence for a prebiotic effect of FOS in human subjects, which has been confirmed in other studies as well.

The addition to the diet of small amount of FOS was found to increase Bifidobacteria numbers. Recent trials assessed the prebiotic properties of preterm and term infant formulas, supplemented with a mixture of GOS and FOS. In 1994 the Scientific Working Group of the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended increased efforts to prevent disease “through . . . several older forms of therapy, including bacterial interference”. Prebiotics may thus be regarded as microbial interference treatment (MIT).

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Knowledge about microbial community structure and immunomodulating processes not only allows researchers to define the activities and interactions of “functional food” but will also provide the scientific basis for the development of innovative biotechnology-based products. FOS and GOS are natural ingredients tailored to promote overall human gastrointestinal health and therefore might be promising candidates for the prevention and treatment of clinical conditions with disturbed intestinal ecosystems and abnormal gut mucosal barrier functions.