Food Intolerance
The Tecan Food Intolerance portfolio includes a comprehensive range of food screening assays, allowing laboratories to choose panels covering from 7 up to 280 food allergens. The table on the right side provides an overview of the allergens included in each assay.
Intended Use
Enzyme immunoassay for the simultaneous, quantitative measurement of food specific IgG antibodies against 20 allergens in human serum and plasma (EDTA, Citrate, Heparin).
Summary and Explanation
It is intended to use as a tool to support the diagnosis of patients presenting various clinical symptoms associated with food intolerances. Advantage of the test is a non-invasive, quantitative measurement of plasma or serum samples for several foodstuff or –mixes at once. It is to be carried out by laboratory qualified personnel experienced in the use of in vitro diagnostic methods only.
"Lucretius once said that one man’s food may be another man’s poison."
Individuals with allergies and other types of food sensitivities react adversely to certain foods and food ingredients that others can consume with no problems. Many different types of reactions are involved in these individual adverse reactions. Adverse food reactions may include IgE and non-IgE-mediated primary immunological sensitivities, non immunological intolerances (such as an enzyme deficiency or reactions to certain chemicals), as well as secondary sensitivities. Adverse immune reactions to foods which are not IgE mediated are often called food “intolerances.”
The absence of IgE does not make them any less real; instead, other immune mechanisms, such as IgG or IgG4 antibodies are involved. IgG or IgG4-mediated adverse reactions to food are characterized by less severe reactions, are much more common (affecting approx. 45 % of the population) and have delayed onset (2 to 72 hours) after ingestion of an offending substance. Avoiding ingestion of such food (exclusion or rotation diet) is the best treatment to decrease symptoms.
There are several evidences for the involvement of IgG or IgG4 in food „intolerances“ e.g.:
Allergic reactions may occur independently of antigen-specific IgE;Subsequent decrease of IgG when the offending food is removed from the diet; Specific serum IgG has been reported in cases of celiac disease, dermatitis, or atopic eczema, as well as in diseases with increased intestinal permeability, and inflammatory bowel disease(IBD). This evidence leads to the recommendation that IgG or IgG4-specific testing should be considered in cases where the patient shows unclear and chronic disorders, and in cases where classical diagnostics show no evidence.
| Overview of Allergens |
|---|
| Code | Name | Name (latin) | Allergen Mix |
|---|
| f14 | Soy bean | Glycine max | |
| f4 | Wheat | Triticum aestivum | |
| fx375 | Fish mix 4 | | f152 Plaice / f3 Cod fish / f307 Hake / f902 Halibut / f40 Yellowfin tuna |
| f26 | Pork | Sus scrofa domestica | |
| f9 | Rice | Oryza sativa | |
| f194 | Lettuce | Lactuca sativa | |
| f74 | Hen egg | Gallus gallus domesticus | |
| fx451 | Yeasts mix | | f45 Baker's yeast / f450 Brewer's yeast |
| f27 | Beef | Bos primigenius f. taurus | |
| f955 | Coffee | Coffea arabica | |
| f2 | Milk protein | Bos primigenius f. taurus | |
| f79 | Gluten | Triticum aestivum | |
| fx71 | Crustacean mix 2 | | f23 Crab / f71 Spiny lobster / f80 Lobster |
| f29 | Banana | Musa x paradisiaca | |
| f97 | Cacao | Theobroma cacao | |
| f25 | Tomato | Lycopersicon esculentum | |
| f84 | Kiwi fruit | Actinidia deliciosa | |
| fx84 | Apple + Pear mix | | f30 Pear / f49 Apple |
| f35 | Potato | Solanum tuberosum | |
| fx23 | Nut mix 1 | | f13 Peanut / f16 Walnut / f17 Hazelnut / f20 Almond |
„Distributed by Tecan, IBL International.”