Written by Jessica Patella, ND. Pregnant women 35 years of age and older, who took Lactobacillus rhamnosus during their pregnancy, significantly reduced their risk of developing gestational diabetes compared to those in the control group.
With the national trends in overweight and obesity, there is also an increase in pre-pregnancy overweight and obesity 1. This is of concern because women that are overweight or obese before pregnancy make up 46% of the gestational diabetes cases 1,2. Gestational diabetes increases the risk for preeclampsia, miscarriage, preterm birth, macrosomia (large babies at birth), and induction of labor and caesarean section 1,2. Gestational diabetes also increases the risk for both the mother and child of later developing type 2 diabetes and obesity 1,2. A recent study found that supplementing probiotics in early pregnancy may reduce the risk of gestational diabetes 1.
The World Health Organization has defined probiotics as living micro-organisms that provide health benefits to the person taking them 1,3. The probiotic examined in the recent research was Lactobacillus rhamnosus (6 X 10^9 CFU) 1.
The research included 423 pregnant women at 14-16 weeks of pregnancy, who either had a history or a partner with a history of atopic disease (eczema). The women were randomly divided to receive either probiotic (n=212) or a placebo (n=211) to be taken daily from enrollment until 6-months post birth if still breast feeding (1). Women were instructed to keep capsules in the refrigerator and avoid taking them within 10-minutes of consuming hot food or drinks.
There was a trend toward lower relative risk of gestational diabetes in the placebo group (RR 0.59; 95%CI 0.32, 1.08; P=0.08). The most significant difference was observed in the women over 35 years of age in the probiotic group who had a 3-fold reduction in gestational diabetes compared to the placebo group (RR 0.31; 95% CI 0.12, 0.81; P=0.009).
Gestational diabetes did not reoccur in any of the women taking the probiotic (RR 0.00; 95%CI 0.00, 0.66; P=0.004) who had experienced gestational diabetes in a previous pregnancy.
Overall, the probiotic lowered the rate of gestational diabetes by 40% using the International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Group guidelines or 68% using the New Zealand guidelines.
This was the first study to report the use of probiotics for gestational diabetes in women that were not chosen based on the risk for gestational diabetes.
In conclusion, probiotic supplementation from 14-16 weeks of pregnancy until 6-months post birth was shown to decrease the risk of gestational diabetes in women, especially for women older than 35 years of age. Researchers suggest if these results can be confirmed in a larger study, probiotics could provide an inexpensive, safe intervention for pregnant women trying to reduce the risk of gestational diabetes.1
Source: Wickens, Kristin L., Christine A. Barthow, Rinki Murphy, Peter R. Abels, Robyn M. Maude, Peter R. Stone, Edwin A. Mitchell et al. “Early pregnancy probiotic supplementation with Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001 may reduce the prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus: a randomised controlled trial.” British Journal of Nutrition 117, no. 6 (2017): 804-813.
© The Authors 2017. Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
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Posted October 23, 2017.
References:
- Wickens KL, Barthow CA, Murphy R, et al. Early pregnancy probiotic supplementation with Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001 may reduce the prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus: a randomised controlled trial. British Journal of Nutrition. 2017;117(6):804-813.
- Kim SY, England L, Wilson HG, Bish C, Satten GA, Dietz P. Percentage of gestational diabetes mellitus attributable to overweight and obesity. American Journal of Public Health. 2010;100(6):1047-1052.
- (2002) FaAOWHO. Guidelines for the Evaluation of Probiotics in Food. Report of a Joint FAO/WHO Working Group on Drafting Guidelines for the Evaluation of Probiotics in Food. London:FAO/WHO. 2002.
