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Prebiotics and Probiotics: Infant Health and Growth

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Nutrition in Infancy

Part of the book series: Nutrition and Health ((NH))

Abstract

Human breast milk is always seen as the preferred choice for infant nutrition [1]. It is a wholly nutritious complete food for infants and contains many components that have important bioactive roles [2, 3]. In particular, several glycoprotein and soluble oligasaccharides were found to be selectively stimulatory for bifidobacteria [4, 5]. Gut flora dominated by bifidobacteria account for healthier outcome of breast-milk infants respect to formula-fed ones. Some kinds of oligosaccharides act as soluble receptors of different pathogens at mucosal level, so demonstrating a higher immunological resistance in breast-milk infants [6].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, University of Bari, Policlinico Piazza G. Cesare, Bari, 70124, Italy

    Flavia Indrio M.D.

  2. Laboratory of Experimental Pathophysiology, National Institute for Digestive Diseases I.R.C.C.S. “Saverio de Bellis”, Bari, Italy

    Giuseppe Riezzo

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  1. Flavia Indrio M.D.
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  2. Giuseppe Riezzo
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Correspondence to Flavia Indrio M.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Arizona Health Science Center, Mel and Enid Zuckerman, University of Arizona, 1295 N. Martin, Tucson, 85724-5155, Arizona, USA

    Ronald Ross Watson

  2. Centre for Gastroenterology, and Nutrition, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom

    George Grimble

  3. School of Medicine, Diabetes & Nutritional, King's College London, 150 Stamford St., London, SE1 9NH, United Kingdom

    Victor R. Preedy

  4. Division of Health Promotion Sciences, Mel and Enid Zuckerman, University of Arizona, 1295 N. Martin Avenue, Tucson, 85724, Arizona, USA

    Sherma Zibadi

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Indrio, F., Riezzo, G. (2013). Prebiotics and Probiotics: Infant Health and Growth. In: Watson, R., Grimble, G., Preedy, V., Zibadi, S. (eds) Nutrition in Infancy. Nutrition and Health. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-254-4_22

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-254-4_22

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