Baby Boost – Eczema, LGG, and Early Immunity
We’ve seen a lot of research into how LGG can affect the microbiome of adults, of the elderly and vulnerable, and even of children, in studies conducted all over the world. But we haven’t considered the very start of our lives. So now it’s time to turn our attention to where our microbiome begins its journey, at the beginning of our life: infancy.
The first months of life are a crucial time for the gut and the immune system. A baby’s microbiome, the community of bacteria that line the gut and help us thrive, develops rapidly, helping to shape everything from nutrient absorption to immune balance, from allergies to physical growth and development. It’s hard to overstate the importance of a baby’s microbiome as they grow. The bacteria that come to populate their little guts come from a variety of places: the food they eat, things they put in their mouth, but most importantly, from their mother’s breast milk. This indicates an interesting concept: the mother’s microbiome is very important for the baby! But more on that to come, read on…
Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) has been one of the most extensively studied bacterial strains in infants and young children, particularly in how it supports healthy immune and gut development from the very beginning. This has included research both into how this powerful microbe can benefit the baby directly, but also how supplementing the pregnant mother can affect the baby before it’s born, and how supplementing the breastfeeding mother can affect the baby in its earliest years of life. Most of these studies that we’ll look at have looked at one very specific marker, and that’s eczema in infants, as this is a very common issue that many families face with their little ones.
Ok, so what’s the science behind this? Tell me more
Over more than two decades of research, LGG has been given to expectant mothers, newborns, and infants in carefully controlled studies, and the outcomes have been remarkably consistent, not to mention very promising. These studies were randomised control trials to boot, so we know the highest standards in medical testing were adhered to, and the results come from a fair test. Let’s look at what these studies found, and explore some of the ways in which scientists think the results came about.
A lasting difference in early-life balance
In one landmark study published in The Lancet, a highly respected medical journal, researchers followed 132 families from pregnancy through the early years of childhood.
Half the mothers took LGG daily during the last weeks of pregnancy and continued giving it to their infants after birth.
By age two, only 23% of children in the LGG group had developed early-life skin sensitivity compared with 46% in the placebo group, an amazing 50% reduction in risk.
Even more impressively, when scientists checked back at age four, that difference had persisted: 26% vs 46%, suggesting that the benefits lasted long after supplementation stopped. It’s rare that these percentages would remain so similar 2 years later, as a lot can happen in 2 years, so this is encouraging to say the least!
But it wasn’t just one, other studies also found similar results.
In a Finnish trial of 62 mother–infant pairs, only 15% of infants whose mothers took LGG during pregnancy and breastfeeding developed eczema by age two, compared with 47% in the placebo group. This is even better than the last study, and a spectacular difference!
A meta-analysis combining results from 14 high-quality trials found that, overall, LGG used alongside other bacteria in pregnancy and infancy was linked to a 34% reduction in risk of early-life eczema. Another strong result showing that the evidence remains constant across the board.
Both the trial in the Lancet, and the Finnish trial, were randomised, double-blind, and placebo-controlled, meaning that neither participants nor researchers knew who was receiving LGG and who was getting a placebo until the study ended, ensuring that the results were unbiased and scientifically sound. What’s more, these studies were conducted by different research organisations, giving us a wide body of evidence for the effects of LGG in early life.
So how does it work exactly?
There has been some debate around how the LGG actually manages to have the impact that it has in these studies, but the leading opinions from the research teams and medical scientists are these:
In the studies in which Mothers were supplemented the LGG during pregnancy, the leading opinion here is that the positive effect in the baby was due to a positive effect to the breast milk of the Mother, that was then subsequently passed on to the baby. Scientists found heightened levels of TGF-β2 in the breastmilk, this is an anti-inflammatory cytokine, in simple terms this helps to keep the immune system calm and prevents it from overreacting, and overreacting is often associated with Eczema and Allergies. It has been heavily studied, and long believed, that breast milk is a natural pathway for a Mother to pass on her immunity to the baby, and so it’s very possible that LGG can influence this pathway, or even use it itself, to help pass on a strong immune system!
In the studies in which the infants were given LGG directly, a few theories emerge. Some believe that the LGG can calm the immune system, a theory supported by the evidence that LGG can help to boost levels of IgA, as well as its ability to shift the immune system away from TH2 dominance, and toward a more calm and regulated state of being. But the overriding opinion here is that LGG has a great ability to adhere to the gut lining. This would enable it to strengthen the gut barrier, and subsequently prevent any unwanted chemicals or molecules from getting through. We already know that LGG can help strengthen the gut’s defences from research in adults, but this new research helps us to see that the benefits can be felt in our earliest years of life as well.
So how could this impact me?
For parents and parents-to-be, it’s reassuring to know that the strain being used has been through decades of clinical testing, with consistent, measurable results.
In trial after trial, children who received LGG, either through their mothers or directly, showed some real improvements. They had 30–50% lower rates of early-life skin sensitivity, more stable immune responses, and no increase in side effects, even with long-term use.
And the benefits often persisted years after the studies ended, suggesting that early microbial balance can make a meaningful difference that lasts well into the future.
So to put if briefly
Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG is one of the few bacterial strains shown in gold-standard human trials to have measurable effects during the earliest stages of life on eczema.
Across multiple countries and thousands of participants, the results have been consistent: a healthier balance in early immune development, and a lower likelihood of early skin sensitivities. It has demonstrated dramatic reductions in risk to the infants of getting eczema, with results that seem to last well into the future after the supplementation has stopped. This translates to an encouraging suggestion that LGG could be a real contender in setting up the baby’s gut for what lies ahead in life.
References (the science) – Don’t just take our word for it:
5. Kalliomäki, M., Salminen, S., Arvilommi, H., et al. (2001) Probiotics in primary prevention of atopic disease: a randomized placebo-controlled trial. The Lancet, 357(9262), 1076–1079. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11297958
- Kalliomäki, M., Salminen, S., Poussa, T., et al. (2003) Sustained effect of probiotic on atopic disease: follow-up at four years. The Lancet, 361(9372), 1869–1871. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12788576
- Wickens, K., Black, P.N., Stanley, T.V., et al. (2008) Probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001 and allergic disease in infants: a randomized trial. Clinical & Experimental Allergy, 38(9), 1391–1399. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18513380
8. Rautava, S., Kalliomäki, M. and Isolauri, E. (2002) ‘Probiotics during pregnancy and breast-feeding might confer immunomodulatory protection against atopic disease in the infant’, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 109(1), pp. 119–121. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11799376
