Health benefits of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and Bifidobacterium animalis subspecies lactis BB-12 in children

ABSTRACT

Background: While the literature indicates that probiotics are effective for the treatment or prevention of several conditions, data in children specifically focusing on individual probiotic strains are still limited.

Purpose: To conduct a narrative review that summarizes data on the efficacy and safety of two common probiotic strains – Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) and Bifidobacterium animalis subspecies lactis BB-12 (BB-12) – when administered to children.

Methods: Our search of the PubMed database identified 13 meta-analyses, three systematic reviews, and 15 randomized, controlled trials that assessed BB-12 and LGG, either alone or in combination, when administered to infants to improve growth or to children of any age to prevent or treat acute gastroenteritis (AGE), antibiotic- or healthcare-associated diarrhea (AAD and HAD, respectively), respiratory infections, otitis media, and functional gastrointestinal (GI) disorders including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

Results: Our review found evidence that LGG can prevent AAD and improve the symptoms of AGE, particularly among children in Europe. However, we found only moderate evidence regarding the benefits of LGG for treating respiratory infections and IBS in children and minimal evidence to support the use of BB-12. While no serious safety concerns were identified, LGG was associated with two non-serious safety concerns of wheezing and viral skin infections.

Conclusions: We propose that LGG can be safely administered to toddlers and older children to manage the symptoms of AGE and prevent AAD. These findings should be considered for incorporation into clinical practice guidelines and should help to focus the efforts of the probiotic industry.

KEYWORDS:

• Probiotic
• children
• Bifidobacterium animalis subspecies lactis BB-12
• BB-12
• Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG
• LGG
• randomized controlled trials
• meta-analyses
• systematic reviews

Disclosure of interest

HS has participated as a clinical investigator, and/or advisory board member, and/or consultant, and/or speaker for companies manufacturing infant formulas, i.e. Arla, Danone, HiPP, Nestle, Nestle Nutrition Institute, Nutricia, and Mead Johnson.

IH has received payments/honoraria for lectures from BioGaia, Nutricia, Nestle, and GM Pharma and has received payments/honoraria for consultation from Farmas and Chr. Hansen.

Additional information

Funding

This study was sponsored by Pfizer Consumer Healthcare. Medical writing support was provided by Dennis Stancavish of Peloton Advantage, LLC, an OPEN Health company, and was funded by Pfizer.