Adult-type hypolactasia, also known as lactase non-persistence (lactose intolerance), is a common autosomal recessive condition resulting from the physiological decline in activity of the lactase-phlorizin hydrolase (LPH) in intestinal cells after weaning. LPH hydrolyzes lactose into glucose and galactose. Sequence analyses of the coding and promoter regions of LCT, the gene encoding LPH, has revealed no DNA variations correlating with lactase non-persistence. An associated haplotype spanning LCT, as well as a distinct difference in the transcript levels of 'non-persistence' and 'persistence' alleles in heterozygotes, suggest that a cis-acting element contributes to the lactase non-persistence phenotype. Using linkage disequilibrium (LD) and haplotype analysis of nine extended Finnish families, we restricted the locus to a 47-kb interval on 2q21. Sequence analysis of the complete region and subsequent association analyses revealed that a DNA variant, C/T-13910, roughly 14 kb upstream from the LCT locus, completely associates with biochemically verified lactase non-persistence in Finnish families and a sample set of 236 individuals from four different populations. A second variant, G/A-22018, 8 kb telomeric to C/T-13910, is also associated with the trait in 229 of 236 cases. Prevalence of the C/T-13910 variant in 1,047 DNA samples is consistent with the reported prevalence of adult-type hypolactasia in four different populations. That the variant (C/T-13910) occurs in distantly related populations indicates that it is very old.

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Objective To examine whether long term consumption of a probiotic milk could reduce gastrointestinal and respiratory infections in children in day care centres. Design Randomised, double blind, placebo controlled study over seven months. Setting 18 day care centres in Helsinki, Finland. Participants 571 healthy children aged 1-6 years: 282 (mean (SD) age 4.6 (1.5) years) in the intervention group and 289 (mean (SD) age 4.4 (1.5) years) in the control group. Intervention Milk with or without Lactobacillus GG. Average daily consumption of milk in both groups was 260 ml. Main outcome measures Number of days with respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms, absences from day care because of illness, respiratory tract infections diagnosed by a doctor, and course of antibiotics. Results Children in the Lactobacillus group had fewer days of absence from day care because of illness (4.9 (95% confidence interval 4.4 to 5.5) v 5.8 (5.3 to 6.4) days, 16% difference, P = 0.03; age adjusted 5.1 (4.6 to 5.6) v 5.7 (5.2 to 6.3) days, 11% difference, P = 0.09). There was also a relative reduction of 17% in the number of children suffering from respiratory infections with complications and lower respiratory tract infections (unadjusted absolute % reduction − 8.6 ( − 17.2 to − 0.1), P = 0.05; age adjusted odds ratio 0.75 (0.52 to 1.09), P = 0.13) and a 19% relative reduction in antibiotic treatments for respiratory infection (unadjusted absolute % reduction − 9.6 ( − 18.2 to − 1.0), P = 0.03; adjusted odds ratio 0.72 (0.50 to 1.03), P = 0.08) in the Lactobacillus group. Conclusions Lactobacillus GG may reduce respiratory infections and their severity among children in day care. The effects of the probiotic Lactobacillus GG were modest but consistently in the same direction.

Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, ATCC (LGG), has shown antagonism to many bacteria including mutans streptococci. This randomized, double–blind, placebo–controlled intervention study was designed to examine whether milk containing LGG has an effect on caries and the risk of caries in children when compared with normal milk. 594 children, 1–6 years old, from 18 municipal day–care centres were included. The children received the milk with meals from coded containers 5 days a week in the day–care centres for 7 months. The children’s oral health was recorded at baseline and at the end, using WHO criteria. The caries risk was calculated based on clinical and microbiological data, comprising mutans streptococcus levels from dental plaque and saliva. The risk was classified as high if the child had a dmft/DMFT or initial caries score >0, and a mutans streptococcus count ≧10⁵ CFU/ml. The results showed less dental caries in the LGG group and lower mutans streptococcus counts at the end of the study. LGG was found to reduce the risk of caries significantly (OR = 0.56, p = 0.01; controlled for age and gender, OR = 0.51, p = 0.004). The effect was particularly clear in the 3– to 4–year–olds. Thus, milk containing the probiotic LGG bacteria may have beneficial effects on children’s dental health.

Treatment with LGG may alleviate AEDS symptoms in IgE-sensitized infants but not in non-IgE-sensitized infants.

For evaluation of Crohn's disease activity, based on endoscopic findings, more sensitive surrogate markers than is CDAI or CRP are fecal calprotectin and lactoferrin. These prove to be useful tools for estimation of disease activity in Crohn's disease.

Calcium-activated tissue transglutaminase autoantibody ELISA is highly accurate in detecting untreated celiac disease. Tissue transglutaminase seems to be the target self-antigen for endomysial antibodies.

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