Probiotics to Reduce the Severity of Atopic Dermatitis in Pediatric Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background and objective: Probiotics, defined as live microbial dietary supplements that provide health benefits for the host, have been suggested as a treatment for atopic dermatitis based on a variety of proposed mechanisms of action. We analyzed evidence for the efficacy of probiotics to attenuate the severity of atopic dermatitis in pediatric patients younger than the age of 18 years. Material and methods: Systematic review of trials of probiotics that included patients under the age of 18 years with a confirmed diagnosis of atopic dermatitis scored for severity using the Scoring Atopic Dermatitis SCORAD) tool. We performed a meta-analysis of the randomized placebo controlled trials. The following databases were searched: MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus, ClinicalTrials.gov, Epistemonikos, Trip Medical Database, and the Spanish Virtual Health Library. Results: Twenty trials were retrieved and included in the systematic review. Sixteen supported the use of probiotics to attenuate SCORAD-evaluated severity. Meta-analysis found an overall mean difference in effect between probiotics and placebo of −0.38 (95% CI, −0.63 to −0.14) in favor of probiotics. However, trial heterogeneity was high (I² statistic, 76%) due to clinical and methodological variability. Conclusions: In spite of clinical heterogeneity in trials attributable to different types of probiotic products and doses, and to the subjective variability of the SCORAD scale, we conclude that probiotics are beneficial for reducing the severity of atopic dermatitis as reflected by the SCORAD index.