B infantis EVC001 cuts necrotizing enterocolitis, related mortality in VLBW infants

Probiotics with the EVC001 strain of the Bifidobacterium longum subspecies infantis, as a supplement to human milk, appears to significantly reduce the risk of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and associated deaths in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants, a recent study has found.

Researchers conducted a nonconcurrent retrospective assessment of two VLBW cohorts (n=483) of whom 182 had been exposed to EVC001 supplementation and 301 had not. The outcomes of NEC and NEC-associated deaths were assessed in the overall cohort and in the subgroup of extremely LBW (ELBW) infants.

The cumulative incidence of NEC was 11.0 percent in VLBW infants who had not received the probiotic and decreased significantly to 2.7 percent in the EVC001-exposed group (p<0.01). Similarly, related deaths dropped from 2.7 percent in the no-EVC001 group to 0 percent in the supplement group.

Log-binomial regression analysis confirmed that EVC001 supplementation was significantly beneficial to VLBW infants, cutting the risk of NEC development by 73 percent (adjusted risk ratio [RR], 0.27, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.094–0.614; p<0.01). The same was true in the subset of infants who were born ELBW (19.2 percent vs 5.3 percent; adjusted RR, 0.28, 95 percent CI, 0.085–0.698; p=0.02).

“Based on these findings, B infantis EVC001 administration can be considered a safe and effective method for preventing NEC in the neonatal intensive care unit and modifying the dysbiosis thought to underpin a significant proportion of NEC,” the researchers said.