Objective: Introduction: Excess lactose in the diet of modern man causes the development of not only lactase deficiency, but it can be a factor that contributes to obesity. The aim: To study associations between obesity and genotype C/C 13910 of lactase gene (LCT) in children, to investigate the effectiveness of treatment using drug exogenous lactase and a low-lactose diet.
Patients and methods: Materials and methods: genotyping of lactase gene by real-time polymerase chain reaction, determining the level of lactose maldigestion by hydrogen breath test (HBT), estimating the insulin resistance with the HOMA-IR index in 70 obese children and 40 healthy children 6 - 18 years. Obese children with genotype C/C 13910 and lactose maldigestion (n=40) were randomized in two groups: children from group I (n=20) received an exogenous lactase preparation, and children from group II (n=20) - low-lactose diet.
Results: Results: in obese children, the genotype C/C 13910 is 2 times more often than in healthy children. Obese children with genotype C/C 13910 have a significantly higher value of HBT (32.8-39.8 ppm) compared to healthy children (p<0.05), and an increased value of the HOMA-IR index. After treatment, there was a significant decrease in HBT and the HOMA-IR index in the two comparison groups.
Conclusion: Conclusions: signs of insulin resistance are observed in children with obesity, genotype C/C 13910 and lactose maldigestion. The use of exogenous lactase in the therapy or the administration of a low-lactose diet cause approximately the same decrease in the HOMA-IR index.
Keywords: genotype C/C 13910; hydrogen breath test; obesity; lactose maldigestion.