Rafael G. Seoane, Verónica Garcia-Recio, Manuel Garrosa, María Á. Rojo, Pilar Jiménez, Tomás Girbés, Manuel Cordoba-Diaz * and Damián Cordoba-Diaz* Pages 1778 - 1789 ( 12 )
Lactose is a reducing sugar consisting of galactose and glucose, linked by a β (1→4) glycosidic bond, considered as an antioxidant due to its α-hydroxycarbonyl group. Lactose is widely ingested through the milk and other unfermented dairy products and is considered to be one of the primary foods. On the other hand, lactose is also considered as one of the most widely used excipients for the development of pharmaceutical formulations. In this sense, lactose has been related to numerous drug-excipient or drug-food pharmacokinetic interactions.
Intolerance, maldigestion and malabsorption of carbohydrates are common disorders in clinical practice, with lactose-intolerance being the most frequently diagnosed, afflicting 10% of the world’s population. Four clinical subtypes of lactose intolerance may be distinguished, namely lactase deficiency in premature infants, congenital lactase deficiency, adult-type hypolactasia and secondary lactase intolerance. An overview of the main uses of lactose in human nutrition and in the pharmaceutical industry and the problems derived from this circumstance are described in this review.
Lactose, antioxidant, excipient, food, interaction, intolerance.
Area of Pharmaceutics and Food Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Area of Pharmaceutics and Food Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Area of Histology, Faculty of Medicine and INCYL, University of Valladolid, 47005 Valladolid, Area of Experimental Sciences, Miguel de Cervantes European University, 47012 Valladolid, Area of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Valladolid, 47005 Valladolid, Area of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Valladolid, 47005 Valladolid, Area of Pharmaceutics and Food Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Area of Pharmaceutics and Food Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid