Table 1.
Bacterial numbers between infants in the highly sensitised group (HSG) and sensitised group (SG) before weaning, as well as changes in bacterial numbers in the SG during weaning, comparing the bifidobacteria treated group (BbG) and the placebo group (PG)
| No of cells/g faeces† | No of cells/g faeces: before/after weaning over change (%)‡ | ||||
| HSG before weaning (n=8) | SG before and after weaning (n=13) | BbG (n=7) | PG (n=6) | ||
| Bacterial group | |||||
| Bifidobacteria | ×109 | 31.4 (0.7–70.2) | 9.2 (1.9–51.6) | 17.1 (4.1–58.3)/5.3 (2.8–6.2) | 5.6 (1.3–11.6)/2.4 (0.2–5.4) |
| −82 (−92–24)% | −68 (−92–13)% | ||||
| Bacteroides | ×107 | 3.1 (2.8–16.4) | 1.7 (1.1–5.8) | 3.0 (1.5–152.9)/3.9 (2.8–6.3) | 1.4 (1.1–1.8)/5.3 (1.8–41.4)§ |
| −31 (−65–122)%* | 238 (100–690)% | ||||
| Lactobacilli/enterococci | ×107 | 99.6 (34.4–290.0)* | 3.0 (0.8–17.0) | 1.1 (0.6–2.2)/0.6 (0.3–3.4) | 23.5 (16.3–39.8)/32.4 (5.2–56.5) |
| −72 (−91–317)% | −36 (−77–64)% | ||||
| Clostridium histolyticum | ×107 | 3.2 (0.9–17.4) | 8.2 (5.8–14.0) | 8.2 (4.5–25.6)/9.5 (7.2–35.6) | 9.8 (6.2–13.5)/26.0 (13.3–29.0) |
| 89 (−61–217)% | 103 (−22–376)% | ||||
| Escherichia coli | ×108 | 2.1 (0.4–7.5) | 2.1 (1.3–5.4) | 1.3 (1.3–3.0)/0.2 (0.1–1.0)§ | 4.0 (1.8–9.8)/8.1 (2.4–16.0) |
| −87 (−93–60)%* | 167 (−12–316)% | ||||
| Total cell counts | ×1010 | 4.6 (2.4–8.3) | 5.8 (2.0–9.9) | 9.9 (4.1–17.0)/3.1 (1.7–9.0) | 2.9 (2.0–5.3)/2.2 (1.3–3.2) |
| −36 (−66–31)% | −25 (53–89)% | ||||
†All values are expressed as group medians (interquartile range).
‡The change % expresses the change during weaning relative to the number of bacteria before weaning.
*Significant difference from the respective values compared (in bold) at p<0.05.
§Bacterial numbers after weaning were significantly (p=0.04 for bacteroides and 0.02 forE coli) different from those during breast feeding.