Medically-Graded Honey Supplementation Formula To Preterm Infants

Randomized Controlled Trial on Medically-Graded Honey Supplementation Formula (As a Prebiotic) To Preterm Infants

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.

Inclusion Criteria:

• preterm infants with gestational age ≤ 34 weeks
• postnatal age > 3 days
• no previous enteral feeding, and
• parental wish to use milk formula with no intention to use breast milk or breastfeed.

Exclusion Criteria:

• infants with major chromosomal abnormalities
• Infant with major congenital anomalies of the cardiovascular, pulmonary or central nervous system; including neuromuscular disorders and neural tube defects
• infants with intestinal atresia, tracheoesophageal fistulas, omphalocele, gastroschisis, and other major congenital GI anomalies, and
• infants with sepsis, either before or during enrollment