About the Authors

Irma Schabussova

Affiliation Institute of Specific Prophylaxis and Tropical Medicine, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

Karin Hufnagl

Affiliation Institute of Specific Prophylaxis and Tropical Medicine, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

Mimi L. K. Tang

Affiliations Department of Allergy and Immunology, Royal Children’s Hospital, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia, Department of Allergy and Immune Disorders, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia, Department of Paediatrics, Royal Children’s Hospital, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

Elisabeth Hoflehner

Affiliation Institute of Specific Prophylaxis and Tropical Medicine, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

Angelika Wagner

Affiliation Institute of Specific Prophylaxis and Tropical Medicine, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

Gerhard Loupal

Affiliation Department of Pathobiology, Institute of Pathology and Forensic Veterinary Medicine, The University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria

Sophie Nutten

Affiliation Nutrition and Health Department, Nestlé Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland

Adrian Zuercher

Affiliation CSL Behring AG, Bern, Switzerland

Annick Mercenier

Affiliation Nutrition and Health Department, Nestlé Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland

Ursula Wiedermann

ursula.wiedermann@meduniwien.ac.at

Affiliation Institute of Specific Prophylaxis and Tropical Medicine, Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

Competing Interests

This work was financially supported by Nestlé (Investor Initiated Study). The authors have the following interests: SN and AM are employees of Nestlé Research Center as was AZ at the time the work was performed. MT is a member of the medical advisory board for Nestle Nutrition Institute; and Nestlé Research Center provided reagents for this research project. AZ is currently employed by CSL Behring AG. There are no products in development or other marketed products to declare. An application has been sent to European Patent Office (Application No. 11162632.1-2107; “Lactobacillus paracasei NCC2461 (ST11) for use by perinatal maternal administration in the reduction and prevention of allergies in progeny”) and the patent application is pending. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLoS ONE policies on sharing data and materials, as detailed online in the guide for authors.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: IS KH SN AZ AM UW. Performed the experiments: IS KH. Analyzed the data: IS KH. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: IS KH EH AW GL SN AZ AM UW. Wrote the paper: IS MT AM UW. Wrote the application for the animal ethics committees: IS KH UW. All the co-authors read the manuscript.