Distribution of the adult lactase phenotypes--lactose absorber and malabsorber--in a group of 131 army recruits
Cuddenec, Y.; Delbrück, H.; Flatz, G.
Gastroenterologie Clinique et Biologique 6(10): 776-779
1982
ISSN/ISBN: 0399-8320 PMID: 6816656 Document Number: 195936
A total of 131 apparently healthy male French army recruits, ranging in age from 18-21 yr, were tested for lactose absorption employing a field version of the lactose tolerance test with breath H determination. The group contained 82 (62.6%) lactose absorbers and 49 (37.4%) lactose malabsorbers. Subdivision according to the birthplace of the probands' grandparents (reference to the grandparent generation was thought to eliminate the bias introduced by migration within Europe during recent decades) showed that the high proportion of lactose malabsorbers was due to a considerable number of probands of Mediterranean descent (mainly from Italy and Algeria). In France, a north-south gradient of the lactose gene frequencies (alleles for lactase persistence and adult hypolactasia) is suggested with a range of prevalence of lactose malabsorption which varies from .apprx. 20% in the north to approximately 40% in the south.