Boost for trial aiming to prevent childhood allergies before they start
Clinical Associate Professor Kristina Rueter with Summer Walker who is participating in the SYMBA trial with her son Louie. Daughter Remi is also pictured
A clinical trial aiming to reduce childhood allergies with a prevention approach has been boosted thanks to Telethon Trust funding.
The SYMBA study is investigating if a prebiotic dietary supplement taken during pregnancy and breastfeeding can reduce the development of allergies in children.
‘Prebiotics’ is a general term for some types of non-digestible dietary fibre that promote health and well-being by inducing the growth and/or activity of ‘good’ gut bacteria.
The trial has the potential to benefit an enormous number of children given Australia has one of the highest rates of childhood allergies in the world with 1 in 5 children affected.
More than 650 women and their babies are participants in the SYMBA study, which was established in 2016 by ORIGINS Co-Director Professor Susan Prescott and Head of Childhood Allergy and Immunology Research at Telethon Kids Institute Dr Debbie Palmer. Pregnant mothers were asked to take the study powder (prebiotics or placebo) from 18-20 weeks gestation until 6 months post-birth.
Perth Children’s Hospital (PCH) Immunology Consultant and researcher Clinical Associate Professor Kristina Rueter said the study was based on the fact a mother’s diet and her environment in pregnancy is known to influence the development of a baby’s immune system in utero.
Dr Rueter successfully received Telethon Trust funding that will enable children participating in the SYMBA study to be followed-up at 3 years of age at PCH in addition to the current 12 month of age assessments.
“Testing children at different ages is crucial because allergies can develop at different times in their lives.
“Eczema and food allergies often show up in the first year of a child’s life while respiratory allergies such as asthma and hay fever develop later,” Dr Rueter said.
The 3-year-old checks will strengthen the study by providing further knowledge especially about the potential benefits of maternal prebiotics supplemention on early childhood respiratory allergies.
Dr Rueter’s passion for allergy research is partly driven through her personal experience of raising children with severe allergies.
She said if the intervention proves successful it could be added as a simple, healthy and affordable dietary supplement recommendation for pregnant women.
The SYMBA Study is a sub-project of The ORIGINS Project, a collaboration between Telethon Kids Institute and Joondalup Health Campus, and is supported by ORIGINS Co-Directors Professor Desiree Silva and Professor Susan Prescott.
The SYMBA Study was originally funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Telethon-Perth Children’s Hospital Research Fund. It won a WA Child Research Fund grant last year for additional follow-up of the children also at 5-years of age. The fund is jointly established by the Department of Health and the Channel 7 Telethon Trust, to provide funding to support health and medical research for children and adolescents in WA.