DuPont Nutrition and Biosciences has released a prenatal probiotic formulation

Photo © iStockphoto.com/Rinelle

DuPont Nutrition and Biosciences (Wilmington, DE) released a probiotic formula called Howaru Protect Prenatal+ designed to support mood and vaginal health in pregnant women, and immune health in their offsprings. Protect Prenatal+ is a combination of Lactobacillus acidophilus La-14 and Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001, which the firm says has been clinically demonstrated to support healthy vaginal microbiota, as well as reducing symptoms and recurrence of bacterial vaginosis and vulvovaginal candidiasis – two of the most common vaginal complaints among women.¹

Separately, supplementation by pregnant women of L. rhamnosus HN001 was found to impart immune health benefits to the infant in the first two years of life, extending all the way through 11 years. In children whose mothers took supplemented with the probiotic, the prevalence of eczema was halved at two years and four years, and at six and 11 years of age the children saw significantly less prevalence of eczema as well as significantly lower allergic sensitization scores.^2,3 In mothers, L. rhamnosus HN001 is associated with a lower prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus, and a lower incidence of postnatal depression and anxiety.⁴

“At DuPont, we’re focused on improving people’s lives and we’re especially excited to introduce a product that has clinical benefits for such a critical time in life – during pregnancy,” said Anders Gron, DuPont vice president and global business director- Probiotics, HMOs, & Fibers, in a press release.

References:

1. Russo R et al. “Randomised clinical trial in women with Recurrent Vulvovaginal Candidiasis: Efficacy of probiotics and lactoferrin as maintenance treatment.” Mycoses, vol. 62, no. 4 (2019): 328-335

2. Wickens K et al. “Early supplementation with Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001 reduces eczema prevalence to 6 years: does it also reduce atopic sensitization?” Clinical and Experimental Allergy, vol. 43, no. 9 (2013): 1048-1057

3. Wickens K et al. “Effects of Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001 in early life on the cumulative prevalence of allergic disease to 11 years.” Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, vol. 29, no. 8 (2018): 808-814

4. Barthow C et al. “The Probiotics in Pregnancy Study (PiP Study): rationale and design of a double-blind randomised controlled trial to improve maternal health during pregnancy and prevent infant eczema and allergy.” BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, vol 16 (2016): 133