Infant formula with galacto-oligosaccharides (OM55N) stimulates the growth of indigenous bifidobacteria in healthy term infants

The objective of the study was to investigate whether an infant formula supplemented with galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS; OM55N) was able to stimulate the growth of indigenous bifidobacteria and to establish microbiota similar to that of breastfed infants. A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was performed using 35 healthy term infants (31-54 days of age; 42±6 days) to determine whether infant formula with 0.3 g/dl GOS (OM55N) stimulated the growth of bifidobacteria in the infants’ guts. At the trial onset and 2 weeks after, the infants’ faecal samples were examined for microbiota composition (bacterial abundance and α-diversity) and faecal characteristics. Among the 35 infants, 5 were withdrawn and 8 were excluded from the final evaluation before breaking the blinding since the indigenous bifidobacteria were not detected at the trial onset. After 2 weeks, the abundance of Bifidobacteriaceae was significantly increased in the GOS feeding group compared to the control (+11.6±24.1% vs -3.9±13...