Probiotics: A protective shield from breast milk against necrotizing enterocolitis in the premature new borns.

Introduction: Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a common and life-threatening disease in premature new borns. Identifying specific preventive strategies to reduce the incidence of this disease is of great importance. Among these strategies, the use of probiotics as a nutritional strategy has been considered. Accordingly, this study was designed to investigate the effect of probiotic-enriched breast milk in preventing NEC in premature new borns. Methods: A recent review was conducted using Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and Sid databases with the keywords probiotics, enterocolic necrosis, preterm new born and breast milk during the period ۲۰۱۷-۲۰۲۴. Initially, ۲۰ studies were identified from the initial search. Articles were included only if they were published in Persian or English. After removing duplicates, ۵ studies were selected for analysis. The selection, extraction, and analysis processes were performed with careful attention to minimizing bias. Results: NEC is a severe gastrointestinal disease of premature new borns and is thought to be related to physiological immaturity of the intestine and altered levels of normal intestinal flora. The disease is very common and occurs in ۵ to ۱۰% of very low birth weight infants with necrosis of small and large intestinal tissues. Breastfeeding is known as a preventive, safe, and effective approach for NEC in premature new borns. Now, the role of other drugs or adjuncts is also significant. For example, probiotics, glutamine, arginine, etc. have been studied as a treatment to reduce NEC in premature new borns. Several studies show a reduction in the incidence and severity of NEC in new borns treated with probiotics. Probiotics are live microorganisms that, when administered in sufficient quantities, provide health benefits to the host. Research shows that probiotics have the greatest impact on reducing mortality in new borns with NEC and also shortening their length of hospital stay. Therefore, further research on this topic could pave the way for the recovery of more new borns with NEC. Conclusion: Given the nature of NEC and the very serious complications that it can cause in premature new borns and even cause their death, preventive measures in this field can be very useful. Since new borns use breast milk for their growth and development, enriching this milk with probiotics through the mother's continuous use of foods containing probiotics is a very effective way to prevent this disease.

کلیدواژه ها:

Probiotics ، enterocolic necrosis ، Premature new born ، Breast milk