Description
ThyroGut Analysis Panel Blood Test
Thyroid and Gut Health Connection Kit
Uncover the deeper connections between your thyroid health and gut integrity with this all-in-one testing solution. This comprehensive kit is designed to help identify hidden imbalances that may be contributing to fatigue, digestive issues, brain fog, weight fluctuations, or autoimmunity, giving you the clarity needed to take control of your health.
What’s Inside the Kit?
- Wheat Zoomer Panel
- A cutting-edge test that evaluates for celiac disease, gluten intolerance, and immune reactivity to over 30 gluten and wheat proteins.
- Includes a leaky gut assessment, offering critical insights into intestinal permeability, which plays a key role in inflammation and autoimmunity.
- Complete Thyroid Panel
- A thorough thyroid health assessment that includes:
- TSH, Free T4, and Free T3, Total T4 and Total T3: The foundation of understanding thyroid function and hormone levels.
- Reverse T3 (rT3): Evaluates whether your body is efficiently converting thyroid hormones into their active forms.
- Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) and Thyroglobulin (Tg) Antibodies: Screens for autoimmune thyroid conditions like Hashimoto’s or Graves’ disease.
- Iodine Testing
- Measures your iodine levels, a critical nutrient for thyroid hormone production and metabolic regulation.
Why Choose This Kit?
- Comprehensive and Holistic: This kit bridges the gap between gut health and thyroid health, offering a more holistic understanding of your overall wellness.
- Personalized Insights: Provides a complete picture of how your gut and thyroid are influencing symptoms, allowing you and your healthcare provider to tailor an effective plan for improvement.
- Early Intervention: Identify imbalances before they progress, addressing the root causes of chronic symptoms.
Who Can Benefit?
This kit is ideal for those experiencing:
- Unexplained fatigue, brain fog, or mood imbalances.
- Digestive discomfort, such as bloating, irregular bowel movements, or gluten sensitivity.
- Symptoms of thyroid imbalance, like cold intolerance, thinning hair, dry skin, or weight changes.
- Concerns about autoimmune conditions or chronic inflammation.
- Chronic vitamin D deficiency
This Thyroid and Gut Health Connection Kit gives you the knowledge you need to reclaim your energy, balance, and vitality. Dive into the root causes of your symptoms with clarity and take the next step toward optimizing your health.
Wheat Zoomer Sample Report
About Test
About ThyroGut Panel
Key Details
- Sample collection must be performed by a phlebotomist any day Monday-Friday.
- More information on scheduling a blood draw can be found HERE.
- You may need to pay an additional fee for phlebotomy.
- Review your kit - When you receive the test kit in the mail, review its contents, and read through the information provided with the kit.
- Place frozen ice packs (if included with the kit) in the freezer for at least 24 hours prior to your appointment.
- Scheduling your blood draw any day Monday-Friday.
- Search for a "mobile phlebotomist" who will come to your home, or:
- Locate a blood draw site HERE. Please note: Quest and LabCorp only draw for their own tests, not for Vibrant America tests.
- If you are in a rural location, consider asking your doctor's office to draw for the kit, or, call your local hospital and ask if they offer this service.
- You may need to pay an additional fee for phlebotomy.
- Your test kit may come with more tubes than needed. Please have the phlebotomist check the collection instructions and your test requisition form to determine the correct tubes to draw. Your phlebotomist will know what to do with the tubes and instructions provided.
- After the blood draw is collected, you are all done! Your phlebotomist will process, package and ship your completed kit for you.
What to bring to your appointment:
- Frozen ice packs
- Full test kit with all contents and forms
- Fasting is not required for your kit. Drink plenty of water.
Verify the kit contents, which typically includes:
- Requisition form: lab orders needed for the phlebotomist to draw your samples. Confirm your information is correct on this form.
- Since your kit has been prepaid, you do not need to fill in the payment information on any of these forms.
- Tubes: these are specific to the samples the test requires and some may have extra reagents in the tubes (this is not condensation!)
- Ice pack: if present, place in the freezer (you must bring these to the phlebotomy appointment)
- Shipping materials: a biohazard bag for your samples & return shipping label
- For return shipment tracking, take a picture of the shipping label if you'd like to track status of the kit; most labs can't provide this information once the kit is shipped
- Draw instructions: for the phlebotomist to confirm the test specific instructions.
Preparation & Timing
- Sample collection must be performed Monday-Friday only by a phlebotomist.
- More information on scheduling a blood draw can be found HERE.
- You can find a Vibrant America-partnered blood draw location HERE.
- If you are currently taking (or have recently taken) any of the following medications, consult your healthcare provider regarding the timing of collection.
- Steroids
- Immunosuppressive medications
- Biologic agents
- Other immunomodulating medications
- Hydrate the day prior to the test.
- Freeze the provided ice packs for at least 24 hours prior to your blood draw.
Requisition & Payment
- Your kit has been prepaid. You may need to pay an additional fee for phlebotomy.
- Instructions on how to fill out your requisition can be found HERE.
- Since you pre-paid for your tests, you do not need to fill in the payment information on any of these forms.
The Vibrant Experience
Vibrant America is a leading science and technology company delivering life-transforming laboratory services using an integrated microarray platform that enables multiplex testing at an affordable cost.
Vibrant’s relationship with its patients and providers is special. We go out of our way to provide the value and resources our providers need to accurately interpret test results and give patients the most accurate health information.
The Most Accurate In the Industry
All tests run on Vibrant’s proprietary 3Dense microchip technology platform boast an unrivaled specificity and sensitivity – which translates to the highest standard of accuracy of results in the lab industry.
Our Lab Technology
Vibrant America is at the forefront of modern medicine. Our technology was developed out of passion for better medicine, and we believe that automation is the key to high-quality and accurate test results. Multiplexing tests on a single sample enable a fast turnaround time.
Our Mission
Dedicated to bring clinically relevant test at a rapid pace to enable affordable high-quality diagnostics to every individual.
- High-quality lab service
- Fully automated systems
- Low cost
- Fast Turn Around Time
Quality and Security
All of our laboratory testings is done in a CLIA and CAP-certified laboratory in California.
Vibrant America's Compliance Overview
FAQ
FAQ
Where is the testing performed?
All testings are performed at Vibrant America Clinical Labs at San Carlos.
What medications can interfere with the Wheat ZoomerTM test results?
As with all antibody testing, immunosuppressant and corticosteroid drugs can reduce antibody production and cause false negative results. A patient should ask their pharmacist if their prescribed medications are immunosuppressant or steroid-class medications. If so, it is recommended to wait 30-60 days (immune-response is individually variable) after completing the prescription for it to clear the system and allow the normal production of antibodies. This is required for accurate antibody measuring. Do not stop these medications without instructions from your prescribing doctor. A list of immunosuppressive drugs can also be found here: https://www.drugs.com/drug-class/immunosuppressive-agents.html
Inhalers can affect test results. Wait two weeks after completion of the inhalant dosage before collecting the specimen. Do not stop these medications without instructions from your prescribing doctor.
Certain infections can interfere with test results.
For best assessment, it is important for a physician to evaluate total immunoglobulins (total IgG and total IgA) to determine a patient’s baseline immunoglobulin production and thus accuracy of a patient’s antibody response. Total IgG and total IgA are available on the Vibrant Wheat ZoomerTM.
Does the patient need to be actively eating gluten to run the Wheat ZoomerTM?
Our Vibrant Clinical Team does not recommend a “gluten challenge” to a patient who is already aware they have adverse symptoms driven by gluten. However, with any antibody testing, if the antigen (in this case gluten or other peptides in wheat) has been removed for a significant amount of time (variable amongst individuals), the body will no longer mount an IgA/IgG antibody response and will render an antibody test as a “false negative”. Such is the case with our Wheat ZoomerTM test.
However, the Wheat ZoomerTM looks at more than gluten and wheat antigens, and if a patient is still experiencing symptoms, it would be helpful to look at the intestinal permeability (“leaky gut”) panel from the Wheat ZoomerTM. Also, many of our practitioners find that running a Wheat ZoomerTM can demonstrate a person’s true compliance in following a gluten or wheat free diet. As we know, it’s extremely difficult to eliminate gluten 100%, and often patients will be obtaining gluten from a hidden source unknown to them and will produce an antibody response. Research suggests that a single exposure from gluten can elevate antibodies anywhere from 2-6 months in a person (and this varies individually). Therefore, while the Wheat ZoomerTM does hold a little more clinical utility and direction if a person is actively consuming gluten, there is still useful insight in an already gluten-free patient
What is the distinction between IgG and IgA antibodies?
A primary piece to understanding antibodies is their area of origin. IgA antibodies are produced by saliva, tears, and mucous linings in the lungs and the intestines. IgG antibodies are the most abundant in serum and are produced by almost every cell in the body. IgG antibodies can cross the placenta.
These antibodies also have considerably different half-lives. IgA antibodies have a half-life of ~6 days. Elevated IgA antibodies indicate exposure 8-12 days ago. The half-life of IgG is much longer and individually variable and can indicate prolonged exposure/sensitivity.
IgA antibodies are produced by the intestinal mucosa as a defense mechanism. If IgA antibodies are elevated to a particular protein (antigen), this can indicate an immune response to mucosal irritation or damage. Elevated IgG antibodies means that there is exposure of these foods to the bloodstream and the body is producing antibodies.
Specific to celiac disease, tissue transglutaminase IgA is a definitively diagnostic biomarker, whereas IgG is not.
In terms of food sensitivities and intestinal autoimmune disease, IgG antibodies can occur as a consequence of and can be downstream to intestinal permeability. These are likely correlated with more systemic immune responses (brain fog, fatigue, skin, migraines, etc). Vibrant Wellness does not measure IgG subclasses.
As with all immunoglobulin testing, it is important to evaluate the person’s baseline levels of (total) IgA and IgG. These biomarkers are included in the Vibrant Wheat ZoomerTM.
Can I use the Wheat ZoomerTM in the pediatric population?
Yes! The Wheat ZoomerTM has been validated in the pediatric population effective May 2018. If a Wheat ZoomerTM is ordered on a person under age 18, the test report will automatically be adjusted to reflect the pediatric reference ranges.
Is fasting required for the Wheat ZoomerTM test?
Fasting status will not influence antibody results and the majority of the Wheat ZoomerTM measures antibodies to antigens specific for celiac disease and gluten/non-gluten wheat peptides. Fasting status may influence serum zonulin levels (the Wheat ZoomerTM measures both serum zonulin and zonulin antibodies). Serum zonulin can elevate following a meal, particularly a meal containing gluten, and then can remain elevated for ~6-8 hours.
Are certain foods that are thought to be “cross reactive” with gluten likely to influence the Wheat ZoomerTM results?
The Vibrant Wheat ZoomerTM is a peptide level microarray platform, where IgG and IgA antibodies are measured against wheat peptides. Because peptides in foods are highly specific to the food from which they are derived, they cannot induce “cross reactivity” or be confused by the immune system for another food protein.
When should I re-test after doing the Wheat ZoomerTM test and going off gluten/wheat?
It is ideal to avoid wheat/gluten for at least 4 months prior to the next test, however, for economic and/or other reasons, it may be more suitable to wait 6 months to a year prior to doing another Wheat ZoomerTM test.
My Vibrant Food SensitivityTM results show no reaction to wheat, but my Wheat ZoomerTM shows a reaction to wheat. Are my results wrong?
While our Food SensitivityTM test is run on our microchip platform and has great reproducibility (the highest in the industry), it is a protein level antibody test. This is different than our Wheat ZoomerTM, where we have synthesized the entire wheat proteome at the peptide level. Thus, the Wheat ZoomerTM is such a magnified look at how our immune system can react to wheat, there’s no way looking at a single “wheat” protein antigen can offer that same view.
Why should my patient with autoimmune disease have a Wheat ZoomerTM done when they have no GI symptoms?
15-20% of people with celiac disease have no GI symptoms. However, because of villous atrophy, they are not absorbing nutrients efficiently, so their condition may worsen or they may develop another autoimmune disease if root causes such as gluten or wheat sensitivity, celiac disease, or intestinal permeability are not addressed.”
