Lactose Intolerance and Intestinal Villi Morphology in Thai People

DUANGPORN THONG-NGAM, M.D.*, PIS IT TANGKUVA NICH, M.D.**, PONGSAPEERA SUWANGOOL, M.D.***, BUDSABA VIVATVEKIN, M.D.****, JINTANA PREMPRACHA,*****, AMNART SRIRATANABUN, M.D.*****

Affiliation : * Department of Physiology, ** Department of Biochemistry, *** Department of Pathology, **** Department of Paediatrics, ***** Gastroenterology Unit, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, King Chulalongkom Memorial Hospital, Bangkok I 0330, Thailand.

Abstract
Objective : To study the relationship of lactose intolerance and intestinal villi morpho logy in Thai people.
Materials and Methods : Subjects for this study were patients with functional dyspepsia who had no history of milk allergy and underwent gastroduodenoscopy. Two mucosal biopsy specimens were taken from beyond the distal end of the second part of the duodenum. The speci mens were carefully orientated and were graded according to the following scheme: group I : finger shaped villi; group II : mixed finger and leaf shaped villi; group III : clubbing or blunting shaped villi. All subjects were tested for lactose malabsorption by breath hydrogen analysis after consuming 50 gram lactose. Breath hydrogen concentration was analyzed in samples collected intermittently by end-expiratory technique. A rise in breath hydrogen concentration of 20 PPM over baseline was considered evidence of lactose malabsorption.
Results : The twenty-five subjects were twenty females (80.0%) and five males (20.0%) who ranged in age from 18 to 53 years (mean 31 ±8.29). Sixteen subjects belonged to the finger shaped villi group (64.0% ), five to the mixed finger and leaf shaped villi group (20.0%) and four to the clubbing or blunting shaped villi group ( 16.0% ). Results of breath hydrogen excretion test identified the prevalence of lactose intolerance in 68 per cent of the
Subjects : 15116 (93.75%) of group I ; 1/5 (20.0%) of group II and l/4 (25%) of group III respectively (PConclusion : As shown in this study, the lactose intolerance is not related to intestinal villi morphology. It is implied that primary lactase deficiency is more common in Thai people than secondary lactase deficiency.

Keywords : Lactose Intolerance, Intestinal Villi Morphology, Thai People

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