[Study of malabsorption of lactose by the hydrogen breath test in a population of 70 Tunisian adults].

Lactose malabsorption was studied by the hydrogen breath-test in 23 adults suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (group A) and in 47 healthy subjects (group B). The concentration of hydrogen in end-expired alveolar samples was measured after ingestion of 25 g of lactose. Among the 70 subjects, 6 (8.5 p. 100) were not hydrogen producers and were excluded from the study. Lactose malabsorption was shown in 51 of the remaining 64 subjects (79.6 p. 100). Among these 51 patients, 36 were healthy and 15 had an irritable bowel syndrome. The frequency of lactose malabsorption among the 43 healthy hydrogen producers was 83 p. 100. This value is similar to those observed in other studies (greek and italian). Our results suggest that lactose malabsorption is frequent among the tunisian adult population.