Highlights in this issue

Abstract

Probiotics may prevent necrotising enterocolitis in preterm infantsThis systematic review and meta-analysis by Thomas et al. (1) demonstrates that providing very low-birthweight infants with probiotic supplements led to significant reductions in the incidence of necrotising enterocolitis and all-cause mortality. Probiotic formulations containing the Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus species were found to be the most efficacious. Abrahamsson comments on the findings (2). Readers may also be interested in the paper by Strunk et al. (3) who found that antimicrobial protein and peptide levels were not altered in very preterm infants by Bifidobacterium breve supplements. The findings are discussed in the accompanying editorial by Popescu et al. (4).