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- Abrahamsson, Thomas, 1968-
(author)
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Can Lactobacillus Reuteri Prevent Allergic Disease in Early Childhood?
- 2009
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Background: An altered microbial exposure may be partly responsible for the increase of allergic diseases in populations with a western lifestyle. Activation of the immune system by microbes early in life is probably required for an accurate maturation of the immune system. Probiotics, live bacteria which are considered to confer health when ingested, have been suggested to prevent eczema and sensitisation infants.Aim: The general aim of this thesis was to assess the effect of oral supplementation with the probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus reuteri (L. reuteri) in infancy on the development of allergic disease and sensitisation during the first 2 years of life and to examine mechanisms possibly underlying eventual effects on allergic manifestations.Subjects: The thesis is based on results obtained from a prospective double-blind placebo-controlled multicenter trial, comprising 232 families with allergic disease, of whom 188 completed the study.Methods: The families were recruited at the antenatal clinic, and the mothers received L. reuteri ATCC 55730 (1 x 108 colony forming units) or placebo daily from gestational week 36 until delivery. Their babies then continued with the same study product from birth until 12 months of age and were followed up for another year. The primary outcomes were allergic disease, with or without positive skin prick test or circulating IgE to food allergens. Bacterial counts and prevalence were assessed in maternal breast milk and faeces and infant faeces, employing conventional cultivation methods. Cytokines and IgA antibodies were analysed in colostrum and mature milk from the mothers with ELISA, and Na/K- ratio in breast milk with ion selective electrodes. Circulating Th1/Th2-associated chemokines were analysed in cord and peripheral blood in the infants with Luminex or ELISA technique.Results: The incidence of eczema was similar, 36% in the treated versus 34% in the placebo group. The L. reuteri group had a lower cumulative incidence of IgE-associated allergic disease, 20% versus 35% (p=0.04), and less IgE-associated eczema during the second year, 8% versus 20% (p=0.02). The prevalence of L. reuteri was higher during the first year of life in stool samples from infants, as well as in colostrum, in the active as compared to the placebo treated group. Colostrum from L. reuteri supplemented mothers had lower levels of TGF-β2, and low levels of this cytokine were associated with less sensitisation. Low Th1- and high Th2-associated chemokine levels preceded allergic disease. The presence of L. reuteri in stool was associated with lower levels of the Th2-associated chemokines CCL17 and CCL22 and higher levels of the Th1-associated CXCL11.Conclusion: Although a preventive effect of probiotics on infant eczema was not confirmed, the L. reuteri treated infants had lower incidence of IgE-associated allergic disease at two years of age, and therefore possibly run a reduced risk to develop later respiratory allergic disease. The mechanisms underlying this effect require further elucidation.
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| 2. |
- Abrahamsson, Thomas R, 1968-, et al.
(author)
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Probiotics in prevention of IgE-associated eczema : a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial
- 2007
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In: Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0091-6749 .- 1097-6825. ; 119:5, s. 1174-1180
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: An altered microbial exposure may underlie the increase of allergic diseases in affluent societies. Probiotics may alleviate and even prevent eczema in infants. OBJECTIVE: To prevent eczema and sensitization in infants with a family history of allergic disease by oral supplementation with the probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri. METHODS: Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial, which comprised 232 families with allergic disease, of whom 188 completed the study. The mothers received L reuteri ATCC 55730 (1 x 10(8) colony forming units) daily from gestational week 36 until delivery. Their babies then continued with the same product from birth until 12 months of age and were followed up for another year. Primary outcome was allergic disease, with or without positive skin prick test or circulating IgE to food allergens. RESULTS: The cumulative incidence of eczema was similar, 36% in the treated versus 34% in the placebo group. The L reuteri group had less IgE-associated eczema during the second year, 8% versus 20% (P = .02), however. Skin prick test reactivity was also less common in the treated than in the placebo group, significantly so for infants with mothers with allergies, 14% versus 31% (P = .02). Wheeze and other potentially allergic diseases were not affected. CONCLUSION: Although a preventive effect of probiotics on infant eczema was not confirmed, the treated infants had less IgE-associated eczema at 2 years of age and therefore possibly run a reduced risk to develop later respiratory allergic disease. CLINICAL IMPLICATION: Probiotics may reduce the incidence of IgE-associated eczema in infancy.
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| 4. |
- Linderholt, Andreas, 1968-, et al.
(author)
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Optimizing the informativeness of test data used for computational model updating
- 2005
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In: Mechanical systems and signal processing. - : Elsevier. - 0888-3270 .- 1096-1216. ; 19:4, s. 736-750
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In advance of a computational model updating or an error localisation, it can be advantageous to make a preparatory error localisation using data from a nominal analytical model. The purpose is then to select parameters for quantifying model errors and also to design effective tests for determining the best parameter setting. For successful subsequent error localisation, the test data must be informative with respect to the model parameters chosen when such data become available after test. The demand for test data informativeness puts requirements on the experiment with regard to spatial resolution of sensors, bandwidth of excitation, signal-to-noise ratios, etc.Optimising a test design is a huge task, sometimes impossible in practice, due to its combinatorial nature. The number of possible sensor/actuator placement combinations grows rapidly as the number of sensor and actuator candidates increases. For industrial sized problems, finding a sub-optimal solution may be a more realistic target. Such solutions are sought in this work.The aim of this study is to quantify data informativeness, shown to relate to the Fisher information matrix, with respect to physical parameters that are used in error localisation and model updating. Deterministic finite-element models in combination with stochastic noise models are used for assessing data informativeness, and a procedure for test design optimisation with respect to this is devised.
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