DAO gene mutations
The DAO gene has the job of producing the DAO enzyme. The DAO enzyme is the enzyme that helps process histamine.
When you have DAO gene mutations, you can’t break down your histamine and this can lead to many problems especially allergies and food reactions.
When you don’t make enough DAO, histamine can build up in your body, this can then lead to overreactions and sensitivities to many things.
Histamine is a balancing act
- Balanced levels of histamine keep you in good health
- Too much histamine can make your immune system to overreact and or cause mental health problems
- Not enough can cause underreactions (poor immune response)
Histamine is a neurotransmitter. People with DAO gene mutations can produce too much histamine, a condition known as histadelia which can contribute to OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder). Excess and or deficient histamine can lead to the following:
- Bouts of depression
- Headaches or migraines
- Food allergies and or overreactions to foods
- Abnormal fears, compulsions, and or rituals
- Fast metabolism
- Easy sexual orgasm
- Depression and or suicidal thoughts
- Sneezing in sunlight
- Crying, salivating, or feeling nauseated easily
- Inner tension or driven feeling
- Shyness or over-sensitivity as a child
- Seasonal allergies such as hay fever
- Obsessive or compulsive tendencies
- Little body hair and lean build
- Light sleeper
- Schizophrenia
- Pfeiffer disorder
If you have DAO gene mutations there are many ways this can present, the most common way is allergic reactions. Lots of histamine is located in the gut so it’s no surprise that food allergies are most common, here are a few more signs:
- Allergic reactions
- Food sensitivities
- Hives
- Runny nose
- Itchiness
- SIBO
- Leaky gut
- Car sickness
- Seasickness
Let’s take a look at the DAO genes, as you can see there are homozygous (double bad copies in red) and heterozygous (1 half copies in yellow):
