Premmies to test power of probiotics

Some of Western Australia’s tiniest babies are helping to test the gut-boosting potency of probiotics, as part of exciting new research that will determine whether increasing supplementation enhances their gut health, thereby reducing their risk of serious health complications.

A 2023 Telethon Trust Research Fellowship is enabling King Edward Memorial Hospital neonatal registrar Dr Chandra Rath to lead the project which could change the lives of the more than 500 Western Australians born at less than 32 weeks’ gestation every year.

‘These babies are our most vulnerable patients,’ he explains.

‘They are at high risk of poor nutrition, leaving them susceptible to a host of serious – and potentially life-threatening – health conditions such as late-onset sepsis and a devastating intestinal disease (necrotising enterocolitis) to which an imbalance of good and bad gut bacteria is thought to play a role.’

To reduce this risk, neonatal intensive care units routinely administer probiotics (healthy bacteria) to preterm babies.

‘But the dosage of 3 billion colony-forming units per day that is administered here – and at many other hospitals around the world – is based on research that shows only that supplementation at this rate is beneficial, not that it is necessarily the optimal dose,’ Dr Rath says.

‘We suspect boosting the dose will also boost the benefit.’ 

His hypothesis is based on the findings of other studies investigating the benefit of different strains of probiotics, which suggest benefit may vary according to dosage.

Thanks to his fellowship, Dr Rath is now able to test whether doubling or trebling the dose will have a significant impact on the babies’ guts.

Babies enrolled in the study are being assigned randomly to 1 of the 3 dosage regimes:

• 3 billion units per day (the current standard)
• 6 billion units per day
• 9 billion units per day.
  

Analysis of the babies’ faecal samples will help determine whether increased supplementation is making a difference.

Supplementation will continue until the babies reach 37 weeks of age, with various clinical parameters monitored closely during that time.

The babies’ development will also be assessed at 2 years of age.

‘The first months of a person’s life can have a life-long impact on their health and wellbeing,’ Dr Rath says.

‘So optimising care in these extremely vulnerable babies is incredibly important.

‘Determining the optimal dose of probiotic supplementation will be a significant step in that direction.’

Telethon Trust Research Fellowships have been awarded annually since 1987. They support early-career researchers working in child health, to pursue research that has the potential to benefit the health of WA children.