Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: IgG antibody test

The IgG is popular in the alternative medicine community. Your doctor and your research is correct. The medical community has little faith in the IgG tests. This is likely the reason your insurance will not pay for the test. In summary, there isn't any strong clinical evidence to support the use of IgG test for food allergies or sensitivities. Elimination diets are still the best.

You might find Allergy Diagnostic Testing: An Updated Practice prepared by the The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI)and the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI). Here are a few of the quotes:

"Specific IgG/IgG4 results do not correlate with oral food challenges and are not recommended for the diagnosis of food allergy."

"IgG and IgG subclass antibody tests for food allergy do not have clinical relevance, are not validated, lack sufficient quality control, and should not be performed."

"No studies have convincingly demonstrated a relationship between the presence of food specific IgG antibodies and allergic disease"

"IgG antibodies to allergens such as foods can be detected and quantified by Unicap or ELISA techniques. The presence of IgG antibodies, however, does not indicate allergy to these environmental substances. Detection of IgG antibodies, IgG subclasses, or IgG/IgG4 antibody ratios were discredited as reliable diagnostic tools. IgG antibodies to common foods can be detected in health and disease. This reflects the likelihood that circulating immune complexes to foods occur in most normal individuals, particularly after a meal that would be considered a normal physiologic finding. It was therefore concluded that food specific IgG or IgG subclasses should not be used in the diagnostic evaluation of food allergy."

Also the article Testing for IgG4 against foods is not recommended as a diagnostic tool prepared by The European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology maybe of interest too. They say "In conclusion, food-specific IgG4 does not indicate (imminent) food allergy or intolerance, but rather a physiological response of the immune system after exposition to food components. Therefore, testing of IgG4 to foods is considered as irrelevant for the laboratory work-up of food allergy or intolerance and should not be performed in case of food-related complaints."

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