The Molecular basis of Lactose Intolerance
| Autor: | Anthony K. Campbell, J. P. Waud, Stephanie Beatrix Matthews |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2009 |
| Předmět: |
medicine.medical_treatment
Molecular Sequence Data Bacterial Toxins Physiology 030209 endocrinology & metabolism Lactose 030204 cardiovascular system & hematology Carbohydrate metabolism Biology 03 medical and health sciences chemistry.chemical_compound 0302 clinical medicine Lactose Intolerance Diabetes mellitus Lactose Tolerance Test medicine Animals Humans Sugar Lactase Lactose intolerance Polymorphism Genetic Multidisciplinary beta-Galactosidase medicine.disease Intestinal Diseases Glucose Carbohydrate Sequence Models Chemical chemistry Biochemistry Galactose Anaerobic bacteria |
| Zdroj: | Science Progress. 92:241-287 |
| ISSN: | 2047-7163 0036-8504 |
| DOI: | 10.3184/003685009x12547510332240 |
| Popis: | A staggering 4000 million people cannot digest lactose, the sugar in milk, properly. All mammals, apart from white Northern Europeans and few tribes in Africa and Asia, lose most of their lactase, the enzyme that cleaves lactose into galactose and glucose, after weaning. Lactose intolerance causes gut and a range of systemic symptoms, though the threshold to lactose varies considerably between ethnic groups and individuals within a group. The molecular basis of inherited hypolactasia has yet to be identified, though two polymorphisms in the introns of a helicase upstream from the lactase gene correlate closely with hypolactasia, and thus lactose intolerance. The symptoms of lactose intolerance are caused by gases and toxins produced by anaerobic bacteria in the large intestine. Bacterial toxins may play a key role in several other diseases, such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and some cancers. The problem of lactose intolerance has been exacerbated because of the addition of products containing lactose to various foods and drinks without being on the label. Lactose intolerance fits exactly the illness that Charles Darwin suffered from for over 40 years, and yet was never diagnosed. Darwin missed something else – the key to our own evolution – the Rubicon some 300 million years ago that produced lactose and lactase in sufficient amounts to be susceptible to natural selection. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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