Researchers of the Krembil Family Epigenetics Laboratoryfind a relationship between lactose intolerance and schizophrenia.
Genetics and epigenetics are two sciences that are best understood together. Our genome is responsible for storing the instructions for the design of our organism completely, and the epigenetic is the singing voice on how and when the instructions will be carried out, and what is more important, the latter learns over time and the circumstances.
Do not get surprised that with age it is more difficult to include milk in your diet, because perhaps you have become intolerant to lactose. It is not by magic, it is not by a disease, it is not by a virus, it is by the combination of elements that affect the expression of our genes through epigenetics.
More than 65% of adults worldwide are lactose intolerant
These changes do not occur equally in all people, and that is the reason that has motivated Arturas Petronis, author of the article published in Nature Structural and Molecular Biologyunderstand what epigenetic changes are taking place in lactose intolerance and how they could help us to understand other conditions.
Our genome is very dynamic. It is organized in different levels of compaction so that certain areas are not accessible to the transcription machine, which is in charge of interpreting our genome. Different elements will unite or separate from our DNA, so that certain regions become accessible or not and with this, changes in the expression of genes take place, which in the case of lactose intolerance will lead to a reduction in the expression of the enzyme lactase.
The surprising relationship between lactose intolerance and schizophrenia
Both lactose intolerance and schizophrenia are inheritable, and yet their symptoms do not appear until late in life. Although the most curious thing in both conditions is that Epigenetics may play a vital role in his appearance.
It is still quite a challenge, since we are talking about a greater number of genes involved in mental illnesses and disorders, however, as we have managed to conclude with lactose intolerance we are one step closer to unmasking the epigenetics of schizophrenia and other diseases.
