Association Between Lactase Deficiency, Symptoms of Lactose Intolerance, and the Small Intestinal Microbiome in Adults

The study involves 3 visits and will include 2 types of subjects - those who have the the diagnosis of lactose intolerance (subjects) and those who do not have lactose intolerance (controls).

Visit 1:

In total, it is estimated that the research participation will add about 1 hour to your planned procedure visit. At Visit 1 following will be done

• Subjects will be asked to read and sign the informed consent after all the questions about the study have been answered.
• General medical history will be taken including demographics, symptoms and history of illness, and medication review.
• Vital signs (blood pressure, temperature, respiration, height, and weight) will be recorded.
• Subjects will be asked to complete 2 questionnaires
• Upper endoscopy will be done as part of routine clinical care
• At the time of the endoscopy 4 extra biopsies (small piece of tissue) from the small intestines will be taken. The biopsies will be used for research to detect the bacteria and to measure the lactase enzyme.
• Small sample of blood (10 mL) (2 teaspoons) will be taken for storage for possible future testing. This will be a one time draw only.
• The research team may contact the subjects to arrange a Visit 2 if they are interested in proceeding with the next step in this research study.

Visit 2: