Cyrex Labs Multiple Common Foods Sensitivity (Array 10)
Cyrex Array 10 is a thorough, general food sensitivity test. You will get the answer weather 180 foods you commonly consume are right for you or not. The tested foods are real world examples, meaning they are either cooked, raw or modified (like joghurt, kefir, wine).
Food Immune Reactivity (FIR) is rapidly increasing in prevalence for reasons that remain unknown. Advancements in the field of mucosal immunology have provided many clues about the role of environmental triggers, in particular the role of toxic chemicals (xenobiotics) and disturbances in the gut microbiota as risk factors in the development of food immune reactivities.
Food intolerances are known to cause multiple health issues connected to the immune system including autoimmune and neurological diseases.
What foods are being tested in this test?
Cyrex Array 10 tests for 180 common, real life food. You will find the complete list under “Type, Markers & Sample results”.
Multiple ways to test for food intolerances
Currently, most laboratories test for foods either by cellular cytotoxic assay based method, or IgG or IgA antibody based method, and associate their test results with food allergies and sensitivities.
The cellular cytotoxic method is not supported by the peer reviewed medical literature and is not considered to be a reliable medical diagnostic tool. According to the Australasian Society of Clinical Allergy and Immunology: “These results have been shown to not be reproducible, give different results when duplicate samples are analyzed 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.”
The right way to test for food intolerances
Cyrex has developed a new way of testing for food immune reactivity. This method arises from a foundation of science and medicine. Array 10 features 10 unique characteristics that set Cyrex apart from other laboratories:
- Raw and Cooked – this reflects how foods are most commonly eaten. This is necessary because when food is heated or cooked, its protein structure changes and so does it’s reactivity. Cyrex is the only laboratory to test for in such a way. An example of how heat changes the protein structure of the egg.
- Cross-Reactive, Pan-Antigen Isolates – Specific food antigens are known to cross-react with human tissues. If a person makes antibodies to these specific food antigens, they can begin attacking their tissue. This can result in tissue damage, autoimmune reactivity and eventually autoimmune disease. Pan-antigens are proteins that are common among multiple sources. Examples of pan-antigens include shrimp tropomyosin, fish parvalbumin and hevein found in latex and some fruits, nuts and vegetables.
- Multiple Food Protein Interactions – When food proteins are combined during processing, the antigenicity of the individual food proteins can change. In other words, a patient may not react to fresh dill or raw cucumber, but when dill is processed with cucumbers for making pickles, the patient may react to the dill pickle. Real-world diets include combined foods; some are obvious like imitation crab, while some are hidden as in the case of meat glue.
- Large Gum Molecules – Gums (xantham gum, gum arabic, guar gum) are in many foods, especially gluten-free and dairy-free processed products. They are large molecules (200,000-5,000,000 Daltons) and parts of their molecules have the same molecule sequences as other food proteins; this is known as molecular mimicry. These can cross-react with other food proteins, causing an immune reaction in the patient.
- Binding Isolates (Lectins and Agglutinins) – Lectins are glycoproteins that bind carbohydrates, and agglutinins bind cells together. Lectins and agglutinins are found in about 30% of foods. Lectin is only one among hundreds of proteins found in beans, so it is normally not possible to accurately measure the lectin antibody when it is mixed with many other proteins. However, by using purified lectins, the most antigenic protein in beans, peanuts, etc., the testing becomes the most accurate and specific method to detect antibodies to these inflammatory food antigens. Array 10 includes lentil and pea lectins, as well as, beans, soybean and peanut agglutinins.
- Tissue-Bound Artificial Food Colors – Artificial food colorings are used extensively in foods, and humans are regularly exposed to them by ingestion. These chemical colorants form adducts (bonds or “bridges”) with proteins in humans; therefore, measuring the antibodies to these colorants will indicate whether or not they are responsible for a patient’s immune or autoimmune reaction. A patient may not react to a particular food; however, they may react to the food once its protein is bound with an artificial colorant.
- Amplified Antigenic Proteins and Peptides – These antigens are highly purified recombinant proteins (proteins made via biomolecular engineering) and synthetic peptides (short chains of amino acids). By targeting specific antigens within the entire food proteins, Array 10 increases the sensitivity and specificity for food immune reactivity.
- Oleosins – are the oil proteins found in seeds and nuts. This is why a patient may react to both peanut and peanut oleosins, or may have a reaction only to peanut oleosins. In the latter case testing only for peanut and not peanut oleosins would give a false negative.
- Meat Glue – also known as transglutaminase or thrombian, is a powder used in the food manufacturing industry to adhere smaller pieces of meat to make one large fillet, or to turn flakes of white fish into imitation crab meat, or form chicken scraps into nuggets. It is also used to thicken some milks, yogurts and egg whites. According to the packaging label on meat glue, there is also maltodextrin and sodium caseinate with transglutaminase.
- Dual Antibody Detection System – Because both IgG and IgA isotypes are involved in the immune response, Array 10 measures IgG and IgA antibodies for each food item. Clinically, IgA is an indication of the mucosal immune response, and IgG is an indication of the circulatory immune response.
In addition Cyrex’s Four Pillars of Excellence are also applied to every test:
Antigen Purification System™ – ensures assessment to the un-adulterated antigen, resulting in greater specificity.
Optimized Antigen Concentration™ – optimum protein ratios to detect immune reactivity (i.e. Beef is much higher in protein than Oranges).
Antigen Specific Validation™ – single antigen validation, rather than one arbitrarily chosen reference curve entire group of antigens.
Parallel Testing Technology™ – each specimen is validated in side-by-side duplicate.
Unfortunately, the practice of validating sets of foods against different antigen has continued to be used ever since IgG food testing was developed in 1985. Cyrex takes extra steps, to ensure accuracy of test results, each food antigen is validated against its own standard rather than in sets. The Cyrex way increases sensitivity and specificity over simply applying the standard of wheat or milk to tomato, beef, almond, mint and a host of other food antigens.
Completing the test
Completing the test is easy. Everything you need is included in the collection kit and you will also get detailed instructions as a downloadable PDF file once your order is complete.
This is a blood test so you will have to schedule a blood draw at your local laboratory. Any local laboratory should be able to complete the blood draw and process the samples. Please call your local lab and ask them if they can take your blood and process it in a centrifuge and separate the serum in the provided standard vials.
It’s really a simple and standard procedure but please make sure you can do it before you order this test.
About Cyrex laboratories
Cyrex Labs is the World’s leading immunological/intolerance laboratory in the world.
Cyrex Labs is an advanced clinical laboratory focusing on mucosal, cellular, and humoral immunology and specializing in antibody arrays for complex thyroid, gluten, and other food-associated autoimmunities and related neurodysregulation. Cyrex’s Scientific Advisory Board, comprised of experts from a variety of medical and research disciplines, brings together the latest findings from medical research and the assessment needs of today’s healthcare professionals. Out of this collaboration, Cyrex develops the next generation of clinical lab testing that is required to care for present-day complex maladies.
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