Galactose loading test

Galactose is stable for 48 h only if kept in fluorinated syringe tubes. A sufficient amount of Gal-DH is crucial for the assay to ensure that it is not limiting for the reaction. A galactose-loading test can be used as a functional test [15]. 

Galactose loading tests should not be done on infants when galactosemia is the suspected diagnosis. In these infants galactose loading can cause severe, fatal hypoglycemia. 

Galactose tolerance tests have also been used in attempts to detect heterozygous carriers for galactosemia (D5, H6) this is dealt with in Section 5.3.1. Some heterozygotes are made ill by the galactose load (D3, H3, H16). Galactose tolerance tests have now been replaced, for this purpose, by the more specific and sensitive method of assay of enzyme activity. 

Since galactose is mainly metabolized by the liver, the body s handling of an administered oral load of galactose can be used as a test for liver damage. In such conditions the blood galactose level reaches much higher values than in normal subjects. 

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