CIMMAP Congress: advances in the prevention of childhood allergies

The aim of the CIMMAP project was to characterise the effects of maternal prebiotic supplementation in the perinatal period on the maturation of the immune system and the composition of the gut microbiota and milk, with the aim of preventing childhood allergies.

The project was based on the PREGRALL clinical trial, funded by the Ministry in charge of Health and launched in November 2017, which aimed to assess the impact of antenatal supplementation with prebiotics (galacto-oligosaccharides and inulin) on the prevention of atopic dermatitis in children at risk at one year of age.

Over 100 people attended the conference, including clinicians, researchers, industrialists and numerous students. The diversity of the participants enriched the discussions and opened up new research perspectives. The conference strengthened links between researchers and motivated young researchers to build up their professional networks.

The event was also international in scope, with presentations of results by Australian researchers in Perth, highlighting the SYMBA clinical trial. This study, similar to PREGRALL but with supplementation during pregnancy and the first 6 months of breastfeeding with the same prebiotics, provided an opportunity to enrich the discussions.

The results presented were very encouraging in terms of preventing the onset of allergies, particularly atopic dermatitis in children at one year of age, through maternal supplementation with prebiotics during pregnancy.