Lactose Intolerance Prevalence in North Macedonia

A common cause of gastrointestinal complaint in
humans is abnormal digestion of the milk sugar lactose.
Lactose intolerance occurs when the gastrointestinal
system is unable to digest the milk sugar lactose.
Primary hypolactasia is one of the main causes of
lactose intolerance. Genetic testing is used for primary
lactose intolerance. It is associated with two polymorphisms:13910 C>T and 22018 G>A in the lactase
phlorizin hydrolase gene (LPH). The gene is located in
locus 2q21 and the polymorphism is detected by testing
DNA (white blood cell isolate) obtained from blood
or saliva samples. The aim of this study was therefore
to determine the presence of the 13910 T>C polymorphism
in North Macedonian individuals with abdominal symptoms.
We analyzed the results of one
hundred and sixty patients with abdominal symptoms
who had been tested for the most common mutation
13910 T>C in the promoter of the LPH gene. The
test was performed using real-time PCR (FLASH technique).
The results showed that the prevalence of
genotype CC (LCT-13910C/T), which is associated
with hypolactasia, is very high in the Macedonian population.
Lactose intolerance is most common in people
of East Asian descent. In the European population, this
condition differs between the northern countries with
a tolerance level of over 70% and the other parts of
Europe, especially in southern Europe, to which Macedonia geographically belongs, as well as Turkey,
Greece and Italy, where a higher percentage of people
are affected.