Digestion - Simplification of Clinical Work - Focus on Gut Mirobiome

Gut microbiome testing: Latest Developments

Our inner world’s mysteries are slowly but steadily being revealed to us. The latest revelations we must share are the extent to which commercial microbiome tests have expanded in the last few years. One lab we work with in particular has invested a lot of research time in developing new tests that can assess:

• Not just microbial composition, but microbial activity
• Degree and type of dysbiosis
• Test tracking via a sequence of 3 tests with integrated reporting
• Digestive quality; monitoring the fat, carbohydrate and protein level as well as water content.
• Specific conditions and their microbiome diversity links (available as a research test that can be ordered)

Many labs are also bringing new concepts to the market. This is a great time to focus on gut health for functional/naturopathically minded practitioners.
If your 2024 goal was to simplify your practice then there are a greaclient’sn ever number of stool tests available to you, for different stages of your clients GI journey with you.
Stage 1 could be a pathogen focused test to alert to H.pylori or other potentially medically significant pathogens, with Calprotectin and fecal occult blood also reported. The GI Map measures these levels, with basic commensal flora reported, along with an intestinal health section that delivers steatocrit, elastase SIgA and beta glucuronidase amongst other markers. Add-ons for this test include gluten peptide and zonulin.
Stage 2 could be a deeper dive into pathogens via a parasite specific test (Colabs offer two parasite tests), or a key pathogen panel (again, two labs we work with offer slightly different versions of this test)
OR
A deeper dive into the microbiome. This is where even more options become available, where the options above come into play. You can make your choice depending on whether you want to know more about microbial activity or want to know more about the degree and type of dysbiosis; this result will also give guidance on therapeutic options. You may even want your client to do test tracking for dysbiosis so you can monitor progress through 3 tests via integrated reporting showing and tracking the changes based on the therapeutic options given. With this level of lab support it takes some of the pressure off research options and allows the utilisation of research that has already been undertaken by the lab.  OR you may want to focus on digestion if your stage 1 test indicates this is the key area of concern. For this the digestive quality is focused on in more detail.
OR
Finally, there is the option to focus on yeasts and moulds, such as aspergillus and candida albicans.
You may want to pick and choose a couple of elements to move forward with for a patient for a more comprehensive stage 2 approach. Keeping things simple for our clients can be helpful to them. By suggesting there will be a stage 1 and then stage 2, or perhaps even 3 to your gut work with the client helps manage their expectation, can give a timeframe to the work if you let them know how long each stage might last, and also shares the idea that the work will have a natural end point, or at least a point at which most of the hard work is done and then it is just a case of regular monitoring.
Beyond the simple, Colabs are currently working with a laboratory who are developing research panels for those concerned about key conditions. To date, they have developed microbiome testing that assesses for association with specific health concerns, including Depression, Obesity, ME/CFS, IBS, Eczema, Type 2 Diabetes, IBD, SIBO and others. We have seen an explosion in journal articles over the last few years informing us as to which species may correlate, and to have laboratories now actively developing panels that utilise this research is very exciting for practitioners. We only have to look at the Vijay and Valdes study from 2022 for our appetites to be whetted (1).

In addition, we are excited to announce that we are developing key antibodies testing relating to gut health, so that we can more easily assess the impact of intestinal hyper-permeability and immune responses to our gut flora that may mediate risk of auto-immunity/specific auto-immune conditions. This is without doubt a complex area and goes beyond the simple, but we will share more information about this in due course.

Associated Education
Join us on the 25th January at 12.30pm for an hour long recorded “Inner Space Revelations” an exploration of the latest innovations in gut microbiome testing, in association with our colleagues at NL Labs in The Netherlands. To register please email info@colabeu.com

(1) Vijay, A., Valdes, A.M. Role of the gut microbiome in