Honey is a natural product that contains multiple nutrients; it is composed of fructose, glucose and fructooligosaccharides that can potentially serve prebiotic functions. It also contains more than 180 substances including amino acids, vitamins, minerals and enzymes. Investigators hypothesized that supplementation of enteral feeds with honey would produce a bifidogenic effect and stimulate the immune response in preterm infants. Investigators randomly assigned subjects to 4 groups receiving 0, 5, 10 and 15 grams of honey daily for 2 weeks and measured their effect on stool colonization, systemic immune parameters and anthropometric measurements.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
QUADRUPLE
Enrollment
40
Honey added to the baby formula once a day for 2 weeks.
Enteral feeds were provided to subjects of all groups using premature milk formula as per routine nutritional management in the neonatal intensive care unit.
The presence of Bifidobacterium bifidum and Lactobacillus spp in Stool
Stool culture/ Gram Stain and quantitative real time PCR were used to for this outcome.
Time frame: Two weeks
CD4 and CD8 concentration in the serum
Serum concentrations of CD4 and CD8 cytokines were measured by by ELISA
Time frame: 2 weeks
Change in Weight (gram)
The difference between weight at enrollment and at 2 weeks was measured for all subjects
Time frame: Baseline and 2 weeks
Change in crown-heel length (cm)
The difference between the length at enrollment and at 2 weeks was measured for all subjects
Time frame: Baseline and 2 weeks
Change in head circumference (cm)
The difference between head circumference at enrollment and at 2 weeks was measured for all subjects
Time frame: Baseline and 2 weeks
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