Are Enterolab Tests Reliable?

[Lori2]

How reliable are test results from EnteroLab? I tested negative on the blood test for Celiac. Here are my EnteroLab results:

Fecal Anti-gliadin IgA 219 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)

Fecal Anti-tissue Transglutaminase IgA 86 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)

Quantitative Microscopic Fecal Fat Score 285 Units (Normal Range is less than 300 Units)

Fecal Anti-casein (cow

[Skylark]

Enterolab measures what they claim, but the interpretation of the tests is a case of "buyer beware".

If eliminating fruit helps, you may have a condition called fructose malabsorption where fructose stays in the gut if you eat too much. The symptoms are bloating, gas, cramping, stomach upset, and diarrhea. A doctor can test for hydrogen produced by gut bacteria in your breath, sort of like a lactose intolerance test. You would go on a low FODMAP diet if that's your problem.

Open Original Shared Link explains it pretty well.

[Ahorsesoul]

I suggest you cut out all gluten, dairy and soy for a few months to see if you improve. Since you have been gluten free for such a short time your intestines may need to heal before you see more improvements. Dairy and soy seem to hinder intestinal healing. I was able to add them back without problems. Made a major difference.

[Lori2]

I really don't use any soy in my diet and according to the EnteroLab results, dairy should not be a problem. Or would the high-normal testing indicate a possible problem.

Fecal Anti-casein (cow

[burdee]

How reliable are test results from EnteroLab? I tested negative on the blood test for Celiac. Here are my EnteroLab results:

Fecal Anti-gliadin IgA 219 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)

Fecal Anti-tissue Transglutaminase IgA 86 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)

Quantitative Microscopic Fecal Fat Score 285 Units (Normal Range is less than 300 Units)

Fecal Anti-casein (cow

[Skylark]

Food allergy tests will not be helpful if the problem is fructose malabsorption.

[ravenwoodglass]

How reliable are test results from EnteroLab? I tested negative on the blood test for Celiac. Here are my EnteroLab results:

Fecal Anti-gliadin IgA 219 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)

Fecal Anti-tissue Transglutaminase IgA 86 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)

Quantitative Microscopic Fecal Fat Score 285 Units (Normal Range is less than 300 Units)

Fecal Anti-casein (cow

[Lori2]

Thanks for your responses. In reading through the forum, I realize that I am much more fortunate than most of you. I am 80 years old and have lived most of my life without major health problems

[ksymonds84]

My Gastro doctor (who is a Celiac expert) believes Dr. Fine has an excellent tool in screening probable celiac patients and used it for himself (he has suffered IBS for years with negative blood work and endoscopy for celiac) and his children. Since Dr.Fine hasn't published for peer view my doctor does not use the test to diagnose. He did look at my results from enterolab and took them seriously but still of course had me do the challenge and scope me. If you are not going to do further testing then do the diet and see if it helps. I also have fructose malabsorption along with my celiac and know my threshold for fructose intake, as long as I don't go over I do fine.

[Skylark]

I think maybe I understand why Dr. Fine is not publishing. He has a little data on his website showing that he has sacrificed specificity in order to have high sensitivity on his tests, and he pretty much says as much in the accompanying test. I'm not sure the way he has defined the reference ranges would survive a peer review.

[starla]

Hi. I have the same 303, 602 as you. I just wanted to tell you that gluten had me constipated for two years (among a slew of other symptoms). Within a few days of taking it out of my diet (prob no more than a week or so) my stool turned to diarrhea. My sister suggested taking corn out of my diet because she successfully cleared everything up by doing that. Once I was gluten/corn/dairy free - my life literally changed.

Corn is way worse than gluten as far as avoiding it. I'm just going to go ahead and say that and the main reason why is because it's in everything. Literally. It's also not a Top 8 Allergy in the US so manufacturers don't have to list it. It's in food, makeup, lotions, on stamps, in perfumes/fragrances, cleaning supplies (especially eco friendly), it's sprayed on fruit (to ripen at the right time), and doused over meat (preservative), it's in almost every juice/soda (citric acid), anything fortified (vitamins in cereals, milk, etc), coated on rice (enriched) to add nutrients, and in almost everything boxed or bagged (salt... iodine is connected to salt via a corn derivative).

With having the same genes as me - - I just had to throw this out there. I really wish I just had a gluten problem. Not to be dismissive of the difficulty of following a gluten free diet - gluten is in a LOT of products/foods out there. But, when I layered on the corn issue - almost no gluten free foods are safe (Namaste is my saving grace). I can a lot of my foods... sauces, condiments, salsa's, jelly's.... It takes a lot of work and research. If you decide it may help you - I have tons of links to forums and sites. There is a google spreadsheet that a corn avoiders forum maintains with safe brands and there are so many people gluten sensitive as well (and dairy) that it also specifies those options.

[Traveller]

I think maybe I understand why Dr. Fine is not publishing. He has a little data on his website showing that he has sacrificed specificity in order to have high sensitivity on his tests, and he pretty much says as much in the accompanying test. I'm not sure the way he has defined the reference ranges would survive a peer review.

Skylarks's point is a good one. If by "reliable" you mean "truthful", no test will be reliable. Even serologic tests for celiac have what I consider to be a high false negative rate (report negative results when subject has celiac). However, if by "reliable" you mean "helpful in decisionmaking", I consider the test reliable.

I don't believe my Enterolab test was dead on truthful, but it aided me in deciding to give up gluten. Other factors that aided the decision included family history, children diagnosed by biopsy, the subsequent dietary response, and response when gluten is unexpectedly reintroduced (i.e. "glutened").

Untimately, the preponderance of evidence is what counted for me. For someone who is a silent celiac, however, the answer may be different.