Adult type Hypolactasia and Consumption of Dairy Products among the Tajik Population Lives in Southern Uzbekistan

Export Objective: To determine the relationship between C/C-13910 genotyping and consumption of dairy products in a Tajik population and to study the incidence of gastrointestinal symptoms for dairy products in the lactase non-persistence (LNP) C/C-13910 carriers. Methods: One hundred Tajiks were examined for nucleotide polymorphisms by polymerase chain reaction/restriction fragment length polymorphism. Dairy tolerance was analyzed by a questionnaire, developed to assess dyspepsia after milk and dairy consumption. Results: The genetic allele variant C/C-13910, the marker of lactase non-persistence, was found in 83% of cases in the Tajiks population. In 17% of the subjects, the genotype C/T-13910 was found. No statistically significant relationship was found between the lactase deficiency genotype and consumption of dairy products (P > 0.05). The majority of the participants with the genotype C/C-13910 were reported to consume dairy products every day or several times in week. Among carriers of genotype LNP, gastrointestinal symptoms, when consuming dairy products, do not occur more often than in those with genotype LP (P > 0.05). Conclusions: Despite the high prevalence of lactase deficiency in the Tajiks population, Tajiks tolerate dairy products well and regularly consume them. Regular consumption of fermented milk products in the diet of the Tajiks population is likely to compensate for the rare use of milk and helps with the intake of calcium and other nutrients contained in milk.