Home Forums General Discussion Igenex lab question

Viewing 3 posts - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #306506
    Valsmum
    Participant

    On my lab results from Igenex there is a little paragraph or so that reads that a autoimmune disease can alter the results of a lab. Does anyone know how this can occur? I don’t understand how it can do that. Thank you.

    #362302
    Maz
    Keymaster

    @Valsmum wrote:

    On my lab results from Igenex there is a little paragraph or so that reads that a autoimmune disease can alter the results of a lab. Does anyone know how this can occur? I don’t understand how it can do that. Thank you.

    I think it means that certain immune-suppressing drugs that are used for “autoimmune” diseases can alter antibody response in the body and abrogate some test results. Some AI diseases also cause immune-suppression or altered antibody response in and of themselves, like Dermatomyositis (DM), for instance. DM patients will often have very low immune function and can’t produce enough antibody, hence why they may be offered IVIG (IV immunoglobulin) therapy for a boost.

    In conventional literature, “post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome,” are considered to be the remnant “autoimmune” residual symptoms that are left over after receiving 2 to 4 weeks of doxycycline, as the conventional belief is that there is no chronic form of the infection. The irony here is how do they know then if the tests are accurate or not after treatment if PTLDs is considered autoimmune (idiopathic) and can alter test results???

    There is some belief that just having an AI disease can result in false positive labs for certain things. For instance, in the case of SLE (lupus), these patients will sometimes test positive for syphilis, which is considered a false positive. However, syphilis is also a spirochetal infection. Is it possible that there is some cross-reactivity with borrelial spirochetes and that the Lupus patient may actually have Lyme?

    There are some AI diseases that have been tied to certain viruses, too, and I think IGeneX offers further testing on Band 31 if it reads indeterminate to check for any cross-reactivity like this, called etiope testing. They can determine with further testing if the small amount of antibody picked up is due to borrelia or not, which would confirm (or dismiss) the band if needed.

    Sheri, I think that IGeneX will accept calls with inquiries like this, if you want to speak with someone at the lab (not the receptionist) about this. I believe Dr.H., the owner of the lab, will talk with callers about their results (though he won’t confirm or deny diagnosis) and can share recommendations for further testing if he thinks it would be helpful. They should be able to further clarify this comment for you.

    #362303
    Valsmum
    Participant

    Thank you Maz, that was very helpful, hope you are doing well.:)

Viewing 3 posts - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.