ALCAT test
The ALCAT test, or antigen leukocyte antibody test, is one that claims to measure adverse reactions to dietary substances. It was created by American Medical Testing Laboratories and is now marketed by Cell Science Systems (also known as ALCAT Diagnostic Systems) of Deerfield Beach, Florida.
Mechanism
Research conducted in 2014 demonstrated reactions identified as "severe" were associated with the up-regulation of CD11b on CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, providing the basis for further research into alleged mechanisms.[1]
Research
Treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Researched conducted at Yale School of Medicine published in BMJ Open Gastroenterology in 2017 demonstrated improvement for those with irritable bowel syndrome.[2]
"These findings reject the null hypothesis and show that a diet guided by leucocyte activation testing results in demonstrable clinical improvement in IBS. These clinical results, associated with a reduction in plasma neutrophil elastase, have implications for better understanding the role of food intolerance and the pathophysiology of IBS."[2]
Opposing Views
Academic opinion papers published up to 2010 did not support the test or provide evidence that it was a reliable medical diagnostic tool; since it had not been validated.[3][4][5][6][7] In a position statement, the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy classified the ALCAT with other forms of cytotoxic tests as inappropriate tests, saying of them
"These results have been shown to not be reproducible, give different results when duplicate samples are analysed blindly, don't correlate with those from conventional testing, and 'diagnose' food hypersensitivity in subjects with conditions where food allergy is not considered to play a pathogenic role."[8]
References
- ^ "Food Reactivity on the ALCAT Leukocyte Activation Test Is Associated with Upregulation of CD11b on T Cells (PDF Download Available)". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2017-11-22.
- ^ a b Ali, Ather; Weiss, Theresa R.; McKee, Douglas; Scherban, Alisa; Khan, Sumiya; Fields, Maxine R.; Apollo, Damian; Mehal, Wajahat Z. (2017). "Efficacy of individualised diets in patients with irritable bowel syndrome: a randomised controlled trial". BMJ open gastroenterology. 4 (1): e000164. doi:10.1136/bmjgast-2017-000164. ISSN 2054-4774. PMC 5628288. PMID 29018540.
- ^ Wüthrich B (2005). "Unproven techniques in allergy diagnosis" (pdf). J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol. 15 (2): 86–90. PMID 16047707.
- ^ Gerez IF, Shek LP, Chng HH, Lee BW (January 2010). "Diagnostic tests for food allergy" (PDF). Singapore Med J. 51 (1): 4–9. PMID 20200768.
- ^ Mullins Raymond J; Heddle Robert J; Smith Pete (2005). "Non-conventional approaches to allergy testing: reconciling patient autonomy with medical practitioners' concerns". Med J Aust. 183 (4): 173–4. PMID 16097911.
- ^ (none listed) (1997). "Ocena testu cytotoksyczności pokarmów (cytotoxic food test) i testu ALCAT" [Evaluation of the cytotoxic food test and the ALCAT (antigen leukocyte cellular antibody test)]. Polski merkuriusz lekarski : organ Polskiego Towarzystwa Lekarskiego. 2 (8): 154–9. ISSN 1426-9686. PMID 9538667.
- ^ Ito K (2008). "Practical diagnosis of food allergy". Arerugi. 57 (11): 1109–16. PMID 19052505.
- ^ "Unorthodox Techniques for the Diagnosis and Treatment of allergy, Asthma and Immune Disorders". Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy. November 2007. Retrieved 2012-10-09.