It is very important at this age because appropriate intestinal microbiocenosis formation can influence children’s health in the future. Parents of 195 infants agreed to participate in the second (follow-up) MEK inhibitor stage of the study. 166 children (51 in the breastfeeding group, 62 in the scGOS/lcFOS group and 53 in the formula without oligosaccharides

group) completed the 18 months follow-up period (Fig. 1). Babies were breastfed or received predefined formula for 9.73 ± 3.54; 8.19 ± 3.45 and 8.22 ± 2.99 months accordingly by groups (p > 0.05). We did not find significant differences between the groups in terms of age at introduction of cow’s milk and the first solid foods ( Table II). At the age of 18 months, we analyzed the incidence of gastrointestinal and upper respiratory tract infections (URTI). Infants fed with breast milk and with the formula supplemented with scGOS/lcFOS had similar

morbidity (0.27 ± 0.07 vs. 0.28 ± 0.05 episodes/child/18 months of gastrointestinal infections and 2.82 ± 0.96 vs. 2.81 ± 0.51 episodes/child/18 months of URTI accordingly; p > 0.05). At the same time the incidence of gastrointestinal and URT infections in the second group was significantly lower than in infants fed with the formula without scGOS/lcFOS (0.28 ± 0.05 vs. 0.78 ± 0.12 episodes/child/18 months and 2.81 ± 0.51 vs. 5.78 ± 0.97 episodes/child/18 months accordingly; p < 0.001) ( Fig. 5). It was found that infants fed with breast milk and supplemented formula had significantly less allergic reactions to food products PCI-32765 in vitro compared to the babies from the third group (3.92% and 4.84% vs. 16.98% accordingly; p < 0.05). Allergic reactions to cow's milk protein were observed significantly second rarer in children who were breastfed or received supplemented formula in comparison with the third group (1.96% and 3.23% vs. 15.09% accordingly; p < 0.01). The incidence of atopic dermatitis (AD), most commonly seen in allergic infants, was also the highest in babies fed with the standard formula without oligosaccharides (16.98% vs. 3.92% and 4.84% accordingly in the first and the second

groups; p < 0.05). There was a similar situation with the respiratory system allergic symptoms such as recurrent wheezing and with gastro-intestinal symptoms of food allergy (Table III). In summary our data suggest that feeding with infant formula supplemented of with the prebiotic oligosaccharide mixture (scGOS/lcFOS) during the first 6 months can protect infants and toddlers from infections and allergic reactions during the first 18 months of life producing the effect similar to the effect of breast milk. This study showed that GOS/FOS supplementation influenced intestinal microbiota and could positively modulate infant’s immune system development and reduce some allergic and infectious morbidity in infants and toddlers aged up to 18 months.