Methylation is a process going on in every cell in our body. In its very essence it passes methyl groups around, a carbon atom with 3 hydrogens attached to it (CH3), which are used as switches to regulate gene activity.
Substances such as B12, folate, TMG etc... are involved in this process because they are methyl-group donors and they regulate this process. Also they depend on several other co-factors (vitamins, minerals)
If you want to test your methylation status you can have a "methylation panel" which will show the status of some of the most important byproducts of mehtylation such as glutathione, s-adenosyl-methionine (SAM-e) and folate status.
See here:
http://www.hdri-usa.com/tests/methylation/
cheers
I saw a video from a doctor saying that one can directly know about methyl activity by getting a basic organic acid test by urine sample.
I have a qualitative organic acid test from random urine and an amino acid quantitative profile from plasma. I also have an acylcarnitine quantitative profile from plasma.
The organic acid test only says if its normal in range. There is a note that says that some acids are not well extracted by urine, but my guess is that a quantitative test would be better for every component.
On my results every part is normal for this first test. It seems to include a few methyl groups which I would like to list, however I am not saying they are methyl groups thou or if they have anything to do with the important pathways that affect glutathione levels along with the conjugations needed to detox properly:
2-hydroxy-3-methylvaleric
2-methylbutyrylglycine
3-hydroxy-2methylbutyric
3-methylcrotonylglycine
3-methylglutaconic
3-methylglutaric
methylcitric
methylmalonic
Again note that I don't know biochemistry so I could be wrong and these could not be part of this group. I actually think they probably aren't but just have something to do with it.
I found a site called chemspider and looked some of the compounds I just listed, but most of these have CH3 at some point in the middle.
http://www.chemspider.com/Chemical-Structure.8972081.html
However this might not be true, maybe these are not good indicators for pathways, or maybe I should just get a quantitative serum for organic acids for more specific results if they actually are. If these restults don't meassure the four kinds of b12 and if the test from hdri do then I guess I should get it.
Also, I want to say that I have found a lot of bad things said about Genova which seemed to make good tests, don't know if most people here are aware of the changes but here is a blog post made by a doctor who used them and Metamatrix and he is not pleased, this is very concerning to me and I think many should be aware of this.
http://chartingdoctorterritory.wordpress.com/2013/10/25/why-genova-diagnostics-is-now-on-my-st-list/
Now, I know Hdri is not Genova, it seems Hdri is upfront with their prices and testing, not one hundred percent sure thou, but I am wondering if there is a good lab that does a test similar to Nutreval which can include components of the Hdri Methylation Pathway panel. Perhaps something made by a lab like Quest or other such labs?