SusanJ wrote:circular wrote:MRT test
Interesting, on the Trying Low Oxalates Facebook group, a member just talked about the MRT test and how it helped her.
The Mediator Release Test MRT is the first food sensitivity test I could even begin to get excited about. It tests the downstream, and clinical, consequence of any sort of food sensitivity trigger, both innate and adaptive, by testing whether each food or food chemical causes immune cells to release their mediators.
I'm growing more skeptical of the IgG tests.
This paper discusses the normal role of IgG and IgG4 in food reactions and lists many organizations that don't support its use. As to IgG4 it even indicates (I didn't look at the cited paper):
Children with a high sIgG4 to sIgE ratio tolerate the sensitizing foods better [17]. High sIgG in children with IgE-mediated al- lergy is a predictive factor of a future tolerance [18].
A host of organizations state that IgG and IgG4 cannot be used to determine food allergy or intolerance:
- European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (EACCI) [allergies, intolerance]
American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) [allergies]
American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (ACAAI) [allergies]
Joint Council of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (JCAAI) [allergies]
World Allergy Organization (WAO) [allergies]
Since most are commenting on allergies specifically, it's possible they haven't all considered IgG or IgG4 in food intolerance, but I think their statements raise the bar for the IgG testing companies to clearly delineate how they think IgG or IgG4 is helpful with respect to food intolerance but not food allergies. Maybe they have done this and I haven't seen it.
I also think this has the potential to free me of the whole lectin issue. I spoke to a representative of the MRT laboratory about this. He explained that lectin is simply one of many components of foods that can cause a reaction. Rather than eliminating nutritious foods because they contain lectins, see if your immune cells are responding to the food with mediators that cause symptoms. It doesn't really matter whether it was a lectin or some other part of that food.
The test is $695 including the LEAP diet plan for the largest test (not including the cost of blood draw) and they don't run it through insurance. They used to and some but not enough companies covered it, probably because it really doesn't have enough published research behind it. But you can pay up front and submit it to insurance for reimbursement, which may work better if your doctor will submit it.
Despite that there isn't a lot of published work on MRT for food intolerance, besides its conceptual strengths (at least as I see it unless and until someone can tell me why it's a weak test), it also has these going for it:
The reason MRT has the greatest clinical utility for food sensitivities is because it most closely approximates the actual picture of what is happening in vivo. This has great clinical value.
W. Ted Kniker, M.D.
Past Chairperson
Adverse Food Reactions Committee
American College of Allergy, Asthma &
Immunology
and
They claim '93.5% split sample reproducibility' in this overview:
MRT at a Glance
Functional
o Quantifies the inflammatory response to foods & food chemicals
o Accounts for clinical and subclinical inflammation
o Accounts for the widest range of inflammatory pathways
o The only blood test capable of measuring both innate and adaptive pathways
Clinically Relevant
o Gives information no other blood test can give
o Highest clinical utility
o Identifies your patients best foods
Reliable
o 93.5% split sample reproducibility
Innovative
o Awarded 3 US Patents
LabCorp and Quest don't do the blood draw for this, but they have a
draw locator tool on their website.
You can email the company at
cs@nowleap.com to request more materials on the foods tested etc., which is where I got some of this information.
So I'm convinced (so far) or duped again
ApoE 3/4 > Thanks in advance for any responses made to my posts.