AJCN North Carolina Research Campus
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Purchase Article
Right arrow View Shopping Cart
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Arvanitakis, C.
Right arrow Articles by Klotz, A. P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Arvanitakis, C.
Right arrow Articles by Klotz, A. P.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Arvanitakis, C.
Right arrow Articles by Klotz, A. P.

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 30, 1597-1602, Copyright © 1977 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc

ORIGINAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS

Lactase deficiency--a comparative study of diagnostic methods

C Arvanitakis, GH Chen, J Folscroft and AP Klotz

The diagnostic value of 1-14C-lactose breath test was compared with the standard lactose tolerance test and lactase assay in jejunal biopsies in 16 control subjects, 14 patients with lactase deficiency (LD) proven by lactase assay and 20 patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). 14CO2 specific activity in the 2-hr breath collection after administration of 1-14C-lactose (5 muCi) provided a satisfactory separation between the control and LD group. Values were 7.0 +/- 2.0% dose administered/mmoles 14CO2 X 10(-3) (mean +/- SD) in the control group versus 2.1 +/- 1.5 in LD (P less than 0.001) versus 4.9 +/- 2.3 in IBS (P less than 0.01). 1-14C-lactose breath test was superior to standard lactose tolerance test in specificity (P less than 0.05) and provided a satisfactory correlation between 14C-lactose absorption and lactase assay (r = 0.77). The prevalence of LD in IBS was 40% by the breath test and 35% by lactase assay, suggesting that lactose malabsorption may play a role in the symptoms in the population of some patients with IBS. It appears that 1-14C-lactose breath test is a sensitive, specific and accurate method for the diagnosis of LD in clinical practice and suitable for large scale epidemiological surveys.




HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1977 by The American Society for Nutrition