Many people do not realize that up to 80 percent of your body’s immune system is located in your gastrointestinal tract. Establishing the overall health of this system is imperative to being able to properly digest and process food, and at OM Medispa, our Gut Health Profile testing can help identify the presence of gut disorders and conditions.
Serving the Elgin area in Illinois, OM Medispa is led by Dr. Savitha Susarla. Contact us today to schedule a consultation and find out how Gut Health Profile testing can help maintain your overall gut health.
What is the Gut Health Profile?
Developed by Cell Science Systems, the Gut Health Profile, or GHP, can determine disorders at a cellular, genetic, and antibody level, including:
- Celiac Disease
- Non-Celiac gluten sensitivity
- Crohn’s Disease
- Ulcerative Colitis
- Constipation and indigestion
As many of these disorders can overlap one another, it is important to have the most advanced testing available to fully understand your gut health and what you can do to improve and maintain this body system.
How Does Celiac Disease Differ from Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity?
These are two common disruptors to gut health, and knowing the difference between the two can help you further understand your own body:
- Celiac Disease is a genetic disorder of the gut that prevents affected individuals from eating gluten, which is derived from wheat and other grains. The presence of gluten in those with Celiac Disease can cause foods to not be absorbed properly and can also cause damage to the small intestine, resulting in illness. This condition can manifest with uncomfortable symptoms such as diarrhea, weight loss, abdominal pain, and more.
- Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity also causes gluten sensitivity but to a lesser degree. This condition can also result in several uncomfortable symptoms such as diarrhea, bloating, constipation, cramping, and abdominal pain.
How Does the Gut Health Profile Work?
This advanced testing consists of a variety of assessments:
- Genetics
- Antibodies
- Tissue Transglutaminase Antibodies
- Deamidated Gliadin Peptide (DGP) Antibody
- Anti-Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Antibody (ASCA)
- ALCAT Food Sensitivity/Intolerance
All of these diagnostic factors are important in determining the overall health of your gut, and for any sensitivities that are found, we can also help you develop a plan to avoid these foods in your diet to maintain your gut wellness and health.
Contact OM Medispa today to schedule a consultation and find out how a Gut Health Profile can help identify the presence of gastrointestinal disorders and sensitivities in your system.
More information about the GHP
The Gut Health Profile (GHP) consists of the following assessments:
Genetic
HLA Typing for Celiac Disease –HLA -DQ2.5 and HLA-DQ8
Strong evidence shows that in order to develop celiac disease, a person must have one or both of two genetics known as HLA-DQ2.5 and HLA-DQ8. More than 95% of patients with celiac disease have at least one of the two genetics. Most patients (more than 90%) carry the DQ2 genetic.
Antibody
Total Serum IgA
It is not uncommon for CD patients to be IgA deficient. It is not only the most common immunologic deficiency ( 1:400-1:700 in the general population and 1:50 in CD patients) but may be the single largest contributor to false negative results in biopsy confirmed CD patients. It is used as a metric to qualify IgA testing for tTG and DGP antibody levels and when shown to be low or deficient why it is important to check IgG levels for both tTG and DGP.
Tissue Transglutaminase Antibody (tTG) – IgA & IgG
Measuring tissue transglutaminase antibody (tTg) is extremely useful as it is produced in the small intestine where gluten causes initial inflammation in sensitive people. It is often recommended as an initial test for Celiac Disease (CD) because of its high sensitivity (measuring the proportion of actual positives which are currently identified as such) and high specificity (measuring the proportion of actual negatives which are correctly identified as such) for CD.
Deamidated Gliadin Peptide (DGP) Antibody – IgA & IgG
This test detects antibodies binding synthetic deamidated gliadin-related peptides (DGP). Selective deamidation specifically increases the circulating antibody recognition of gliadin related peptides in CD patients. It is both highly sensitive and highly specific for active CD. Its high specificity is similar to that shown for tTG and even greater than that shown for previously tested antigliadin antibody (AGA).
Anti-Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Antibody (ASCA)
Because of an overlap with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), specifically Crohn’s Disease, (with patients showing gastrointestinal symptoms) the GHP includes ASCA. A positive ASCA test is associated with Crohn’s Disease (59%-63%)
Cellular
ALCAT Food Sensitivity/Intolerance
The ALCAT Test is used to reveal innate immune system response to ingestion of common offending foods, often associated with GI inflammation, reflecting sensitivity/intolerance on a cellular level.
