Infant formula with cow’s milk fat and prebiotics affects intestinal flora, but not the incidence of infections during infancy in a double-blind randomized controlled trial

Molecular and Cellular Pediatrics

Table 3 Fecal bifidobacteria at enrollment and after intervention

	BBC baseline	Bif percent baseline	BBC 12 weeks	Bif percent 12 weeks
Fecal bifidobacteria mean (± SD)
HbPA+ group, n = 30	1.8 (± 3.5) × 10⁸	2.9 (± 4.9) %	6.7 (± 7.8) × 10⁸*	11.3 (± 8.8) %*
Control group, n = 27	2.4 (± 6.5) × 10⁸	4.4 (± 7.6) %	2.1 (± 3.6) × 10⁸	4.3 (± 4.9) %
BF group, n = 18	4.2 (± 8.4) × 10⁸	4.5 (± 7.7) %	12.9 (± 18.8) × 10⁸*	12.1 (± 11.0) %*
Fecal bifidobacteria median (± MAD)
HbPA+ group, n = 30	0.3 (± 2.2) × 10⁸	1.0 (± 3.1) %	4.4 (± 5.4) × 10⁸*	8.8 (± 7.1) %*
Control group, n = 27	0.3 (± 3.4) × 10⁸	0.8 (± 5.2) %	0.7 (± 2.1) × 10⁸	2.5 (± 3.8) %
BF group, n = 18	0.5 (± 5.6) × 10⁸	1.5 (± 5.0) %	7.3 (± 10.8) × 10⁸*	5.0 (± 10.2) %*

Table shows development of fecal bifidobacteria from enrollment until the end of the 12-week intervention.
BBC absolute bifidobacteria count, Bif percent proportion of bifidobacteria to total fecal bacteria (percentage), SD standard deviation, MAD mean absolute deviation, hbPA+ group group receiving formula with high beta-PA concentration and GOS supplement, control group standard formula group, BF group breast-fed group
*Median number at baseline (total bifidobacteria count and/or percentage of bifidobacteria) differs significantly from numbers after intervention according to Wilcoxon signed-rank test (p < 0.001)