Research Article - Journal of Pregnancy and Neonatal Medicine (2026) Volume 10, Issue 1

Does hydrolyzed formula reduce the risk of developing type 1 diabetes mellitus in infants at risk compared to non-hydrolyzed formula? – A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: Evaluate T1DM development risk in genetically susceptible infants exposed to hydrolyzed versus conventional formula during early life. Methods: A systematic review of randomized clinical trials (up to August 2021) included infants at high T1DM risk.

Primary outcome: T1DM development by WHO criteria.

Secondary outcome: T1DM-related autoantibodies. Data were analyzed to determine the Risk Ratio (RR), 95% Confidence Interval (CI), and the test for an overall effect. The heterogeneity of the studies was tested using I2. Results: Three studies addressed T1DM risk in genetically susceptible infants exposed to hydrolyzed versus conventional formula during their early life. The metanalysis of studies (3297 infants: 1462 hydrolyzed, 1835 non-hydrolyzed) showed no significant difference in T1DM risk (RR: 1.12; 95% CI 0.86-1.47).

Conclusion: Hydrolyzed formula didn't reduce T1DM risk compared to non-hydrolyzed formula in genetically susceptible infants.

Author(s):

A Abul, P Murthy, A Stritzke, HL Robertson, A Lodha*

Abstract PDF