Sucrase Deficiency in Greenland: Incidence and Genetic Aspects

Abstract

The disaccharidase activities in small-intestinal surgical biopsy specimens from 97 Greenlanders were investigated. Five of the patients, or 5%. had sucrase deficiency. The diagnosis. sucrose malabsorption, was established by sucrose tolerance tests. In all parts of the world other than the arctic regions sucrase deficiency is a rare condition. The patients were divided into three separate groups in accordance with their sucrase activity. The middle group was considered to be heterozygote carriers of the sucrase-deficient gene. The number of people in the group corresponded to the theoretical number of heterozygotes in accordance with the Hardy-Weinberg equation, suggesting that sucrase deficiency is recessively inherited in a simple Mendelian fashion. Four of the five patients with sucrase deficiency had deficiency of lactase as well. The nutritional implications are discussed.

Key Words:

• Deficiency
• disaccharidases
• genetics
• greenlanders
• incidence
• small intestine
• sucrase