Very low frequency of the lactase persistence allele LCT-13910T in the Armenian population

• Published in: Annals of human biology Vol. 49; no. 5-6; pp. 260 - 262
• Main Authors: Németh, Stefan, Kriegshäuser, Gernot, Hovhannesyan, Kristine, Hayrapetyan, Hasmik, Oberkanins, Christian, Sarkisian, Tamara
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Taylor & Francis Group 01.09.2022
• Subjects: Adult; allele frequency; Alleles; Armenia; Gene Frequency; Genotype; Humans; hypolactasia; Lactase - genetics; Lactose Intolerance - epidemiology; Lactose Intolerance - genetics; lactose persistence; lct polymorphism; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Armenia; Armenia; lactose persistence; hypolactasia; LCT polymorphism; allele frequency
• ISSN: 0301-4460; 1464-5033
• DOI: 10.1080/03014460.2022.2126887

Primary lactose malabsorption is characterised by a down-regulation of lactase activity after weaning and inability to digest lactose in adulthood. It has been suggested that the historical introduction of dairying led to a positive selection for lactase persistence variants in a regulatory region upstream of the gene. Here, we genotyped 202 Armenian subjects for , a lactase persistence variant which is widespread in Europeans. The homozygous C/C genotype associated with primary hypolactasia, the heterozygous C/T and the homozygous T/T lactase persistence genotypes were found in 191 (94.6%), 11 (5.4%), and 0 (0.0%) samples, respectively. The frequency for the -13910*T allele was 2.7%. The observed allele frequency of 2.7% for - is even lower than previously reported and supports current phenotypic data about lactose malabsorption in Armenia.