Nutrigenetic test

Nutrigenetic testing can help you :

• Understand your metabolism and diet-related behaviour patterns.
• Achieve and maintain a healthy weight.
• Optimise the nutritional balance of your diet.
• Understand how regular exercise can help you.

Lactose intolerance is defined as the inability to digest lactose, the sugar present in milk and all its derivatives. This condition is caused by the absence of the enzyme lactase.

About 15% of the Spanish population unknowingly suffers from lactose intolerance.

Most people are born with the ability to digest lactose, the main carbohydrate in milk and the main source of nutrition until weaning. Approximately 75% of the world’s population loses this ability at some point, while others are able to digest lactose in adulthood. When there is insufficient lactase enzyme in the small intestine to hydrolyse consumed lactose into glucose and galactose, it passes partially or completely undigested into the large intestine, where it will be broken down by the intestinal flora, generating compounds such as hydrogen, carbon dioxide, methane and short-chain fatty acids that cause bloating and abdominal pain, as well as diarrhoea.

The MCM6 gene is primarily responsible for the persistence or non-persistence of lactase activity in adults. This gene contains two of the regulatory regions of LCT, the gene encoding the lactase protein, located in two of the introns of MCM6. Mutations in these regions are associated with lactose tolerance in adulthood. With our nutrigenetic test we analyse the rs182549 variant. It has been shown that people with the CC genotype are genetically predisposed to the development of lactose intolerance. The presence of the C allele in homozygosis reduces lactase enzyme activity. If your genotype is CT or TT, you have a lower risk of lactose intolerance.

Drinking alcoholic beverages can be a pleasurable activity for some, while the same activity can be very unpleasant for others, due to the body’s adverse reaction to alcohol. This hypersensitivity reaction to alcohol manifests itself even when drinking minimal amounts of alcohol and usually results in a reddening of the face, accompanied by a feeling of warmth and stinging. People suffering from alcohol hypersensitivity often experience other symptoms in response to alcohol intake, such as rapid heartbeat, nausea, dizziness and severe hangovers. Alcohol metabolism is carried out by two enzyme systems in the liver: alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase enzymes, encoded by the ADH and ALDH genes, respectively.

For the ALDH2 gene, a variant associated with alcohol hypersensitivity has been discovered. This is the rs671 variant. If your genotype is AA or AG, you have a genetic predisposition to develop episodes of alcohol hypersensitivity in response to alcohol intake. The A allele codes for a defective form of the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase. This causes alcohol to be inefficiently metabolised and accumulate in the blood, causing the dreaded hangover, which can manifest with headache, dizziness, nausea, fatigue, as well as sensitivity to light and sound. If your genotype is GG, you have a lower genetic predisposition to develop these hypersensitivity episodes in response to alcohol consumption.

Coeliac disease is a malabsorption disorder, caused by interactions between genetic and environmental factors. One environmental factor precipitating the development of the disease is gluten or related proteins present in cereals such as wheat, barley and rye. Immunological intolerance causes a chronic inflammatory response in the mucosa of the small intestine with symptoms such as diarrhoea, steatorrhoea and weight loss.

It is one of the most common diseases in the Caucasian population, with a prevalence of 1:100 in Europe. Early diagnosis is important in order to start a gluten-free diet as soon as possible.

There are many cases of subclinical coeliac disease and also what is known as latent coeliac disease, where there are micro lesions that may become symptomatic over time. The absence of treatment often leads to other autoimmune disorders, such as dermatitis herpetiformis, type 1 diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis.

Susceptibility to gluten sensitivity is partly genetically determined. The strongest predisposition is associated with the HLA-DQ alleles, which code for the a- and ß-chains of two major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules. In most of the populations studied, 90-95% of patients carry the HLA-DQ2 heterodimer, encoded by the DQA1*05 and DQB1*02 alleles in cis position (more common in central and northern Europe) or in trans position (more common in Mediterranean countries). The risk of an individual with the DQA1*05:01-DQB1*02:01 heterodimer (DQ2 haplotype) to suffer from the disease is 50 times higher than that of the average population, but its presence does not predict the development of the disease, as it also appears in a quarter of the general healthy population. The remaining patients (5-10%) usually carry the DQA1*03 and DQB1*03:02 heterodimer (DQ8 haplotype) or carry one of the DQ2 haplotype alleles separately (DQA1*05 or DQB1*02). The presence of the DQA1*03 allele in isolation (i.e. in the absence of the DQB1*03:02 allele) does not imply a risk of developing coeliac disease.

Caffeine is one of the most widely consumed stimulants in the world. It is found naturally in the leaves and seeds of many plants such as tea, coffee and cocoa, and artificially in some soft drinks, energy drinks and some painkilling drugs. Caffeine is metabolised in the liver by the enzyme cytochrome P450 1A2.

The CYP1A2 gene encodes the enzyme responsible for caffeine metabolism. Different allelic variants for the SNP rs760551 of this gene result in different levels of enzyme activity and thus different rates of caffeine metabolisation. The possible phenotypes for the marker are fast metaboliser or slow metaboliser, and therefore the stimulant effects of caffeine will depend on this rate of metabolisation. If you carry a C allele, i.e. if your genotype is CC or AC, then you are a slow metaboliser of caffeine and therefore have an increased risk of hypertension and myocardial infarction associated with caffeine consumption. Conversely, if your genotype is AA, you are a fast metaboliser of caffeine and have a lower vascular risk associated with caffeine consumption.