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

Abstract

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 LCT gene. Here, we genotyped 202 Armenian subjects for LCT-13910T, 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 LCT-13910*T allele was 2.7%. The observed allele frequency of 2.7% for LCT-13910T is even lower than previously reported and supports current phenotypic data about lactose malabsorption in Armenia.

Keywords:

• LCT polymorphism
• allele frequency
• Armenia
• lactose persistence
• hypolactasia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.