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HOW LACTOSE INTOLERANCE AFFECTS GUT MICROBIOME COMPOSITION

Abstract

The majority of the world’s adult population suffers from lactose intolerance. Lactose is a natural disaccharide present in a plethora of foods consumed by the general population daily. In lactose intolerant individuals, lactose passes undigested into the colon, where colonic bacteria ferment the sugar using beta-galactosidase. The byproduct of this fermentation causes the symptoms associated with lactose intolerance. The goal of the research was to observe the gut microbiomes of 6 individuals: half with self-reported lactose intolerance and half with self-reported lactose tolerance. The hypothesis was that the lactose-intolerant individuals would have a lower overall microbiome diversity score due to the fermentation bacterium outcompeting other colonic bacteria. The second part of the hypothesis was that the lactose-intolerant individuals would have higher levels of probiotics that would be sources of beta-galactosidase. Stool samples were taken using Biomesight Stool Collection Kits, a gut microbiome analysis company. Samples were mailed to the lab where 16S rRNA sequencing was performed to analyze the community of microbes in each participant’s gut. A Shannon diversity index was calculated for each participant as well as genus identification of their microbes. Scores were assigned based on ideal numbers of probiotic organisms, diversity, ideal numbers of commensals, pathobionts, and overall gut wellness (a combination of the other 4 scores). The scores determined for probiotics was 68 for lactose tolerant and 78 for lactose intolerant, for diversity, 90.3 for lactose tolerant and 82.67 for lactose intolerant, for commensals, 80.3 for lactose tolerant and 82.0 for lactose intolerant, for pathobionts, 87.0 for lactose tolerant and 80.0 for lactose intolerant, and for overall gut wellness score, 80.64 for lactose tolerant and 80.23 for lactose intolerant. An unpaired t-test was used to determine significance. None of the p-values were significant, but the trends observed supported the hypotheses. Future research should include a larger sample size as well as different methods to determine lactose tolerance or intolerance, rather than self-reporting.

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