Comparaison de l'intolérance au lactose entre des volontaires koweïtiens et asiatiques sains
Les auteurs n'ont trouvé aucune différence dans la proportion de personnes ayant une intolérance au lactose entre les sujets koweïtiens et les asiatiques.
L'article n'étudie que 70 koweïtiens et 79 asiatiques et le choix de comparer ces deux groupes ne semble pas, a priori justifié par une raison logique. Il faudrait une étude bien plus large pour voir si la prévalence de l'intolérance au lactose est plus importante dans les populations d'origine asiatique par rapport au reste de l'humanité.
La prévalence de l'intolérance au lactose est équivalente entre des koweïtiens et des asiatiques ce qui suggère que ces derniers ne sont pas plus vulnérables à une intolérance au lactose.
OBJECTIVE:
To study and compare the incidence of lactose intolerance among Kuwaiti and Asian healthy volunteers as measured by breath hydrogen level following challenge with lactose drink.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS:
The study involved 70 Kuwaiti and 79 Asian healthy volunteers. The volunteers were physicians, medical students and other hospital workers. The study was carried out prospectively at Amiri Hospital, Kuwait. None of the volunteers was sick or had taken antibiotics or any other drug that could influence breath hydrogen level 2 weeks prior to the study. After an overnight fast 20-ml baseline samples of exhaled air were collected from each volunteer prior to oral administration of 40 g of lactose drink. Following this, the same amount of exhaled air was collected at 30-min intervals for 2 h. All samples were analyzed for hydrogen level using a Quintron microlyzer. Hydrogen level of 20 ppm more than baseline value was considered positive.
RESULTS:
The basal breath hydrogen levels were 12.49 +/- 8.4 and 6.97 +/- 6.9 for Kuwaitis and Asians, respectively. Thirty-three (47%) of the 70 Kuwaitis and 46 (58%) of the 79 Asians were positive for the breath hydrogen test. The clinical symptoms of flatulence, abdominal pain, and diarrhea were associated with high levels of breath hydrogen.
CONCLUSION:
The findings indicate that the Kuwaiti volunteers had higher breath hydrogen levels than Asians, but the incidence of lactose intolerance was similar in both groups.
