Background:

Human colostrum has been used in a number of investigations when preterm human infants cannot, for any reason, breastfeed directly from their mothers. One of the growing fields in these investigations is colostrum therapy, which consists of exposing the oropharyngeal mucosa of these preterm newborns to small amounts of raw colostrum.

Research Aim:

To critically review the scientific evidence about colostrum therapy in premature infants and to explore its influences on the immune system.

Methods:

This systematic review was performed according to the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA statement). The following databases were searched for potentially eligible studies up to March 10, 2021: Medline, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase. Two reviewers independently screened all titles, abstracts, and full texts for eligibility.

Results:

A total of 12 studies with 996 participants were included. A significant difference in lactoferrin levels in the urine was found (SMD 0.70; 95% CI [0.03,1.36]; p = .04; I² = 65% two studies, 112 participants, very low-quality evidence).

Conclusion:

Colostrum seems to result in increasing lactoferrin levels in the urine of premature newborns after 1 week of intervention.

Clinical Trial Registration:

The study was registered at PROSPERO with the number CRD42017073624, submitted on August 9, 2017.

中文翻译：

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初乳使用和早产儿的免疫系统：系统评价和荟萃分析

背景：

当早产人类婴儿出于任何原因不能直接从母亲那里进行母乳喂养时，人类初乳已被用于许多调查。这些研究中不断发展的领域之一是初乳疗法，它包括将这些早产儿的口咽粘膜暴露于少量的原始初乳中。

研究目的：

批判性地回顾早产儿初乳治疗的科学证据，并探索其对免疫系统的影响。

方法：

该系统评价是根据系统评价和荟萃分析的首选报告项目（PRISMA 声明）进行的。截至 2021 年 3 月 10 日，搜索了以下数据库以查找可能符合条件的研究：Medline、Scopus、Web of Science、Cochrane 图书馆、Embase。两名审稿人独立筛选了所有标题、摘要和全文的资格。

结果：

共纳入 12 项研究，996 名参与者。发现尿液中乳铁蛋白水平存在显着差异（SMD 0.70；95% CI [0.03,1.36]；p = .04； I² = 65% 两项研究，112 名受试者，极低质量证据）。

结论：

在干预 1 周后，初乳似乎会导致早产新生儿尿液中的乳铁蛋白水平升高。

临床试验注册：

该研究已在 PROSPERO 注册，编号为 CRD42017073624，于 2017 年 8 月 9 日提交。