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A new way of testing the bioactive status of B vitamins

Messages
56
The IMD Laboratory has a new way for testing your vitamin b status, which I find quite interesting.

Normally you would have the quantity of a vitamin in your blood tested. But there is now a way of testing the actual bioavailability of said vitamins.
What they basically are seeming to do is to draw your blood and to feed it to bacteria. The bacteria will start growing until the nutritional value of your b vitamin is used up. You could basically have normal Vitamin B12 levels but the vitamin b12 in your blood may not be very bioactive and thus not nourishing enough for the bacteria or your very own cells.

Their website does a much better job in explaining the whole procedure of course:
https://www.imd-berlin.de/en/subjec...ing-via-microbiological-bioassay-id-vitr.html

I had this test done and the results came back today (reference in brackets):
Vitamin B1: 26.7 (>39.8)
Vitamin B2: 32.3 (>85.4)
Vitamin B6: 7.7 (>10.1)
Vitamin B12: 296 (>358)
Folic Acid: 119 (>100)
Biotin: 1628 (>1250)
Niacin: 7.84 (>17)
Pantothenic Acid: 26.5 (>36)

So personally I am quite deficient for most of the b-vitamins.

I am not sure how available this kind of testing is worldwide. Maybe it is worth looking out for it for some of you.

Best wishes
 

Hip

Senior Member
Messages
17,824
Interesting, but I wonder if this new test provides any more information than a regular B vitamin status test?

There's no indication in the webpage itself of how this new test might be superior to a regular vitamin test.

If we had some cases reports of patients who, for example, came out normal on a regular B vitamin test, but deficient for one or more vitamins on this new test, then that would be useful.
 
Messages
56
From the website:

"Where do the ID-Vit® values lie as compared to conventional analysis?

The results between the ID-Vit® assay and the HPLC method showed a good correlation for the established vitamins. Only with vitamin B2 no correlation was recognizable, possibly due to the fact that the metabolites flavin mononucleotide and flavinadeninnucleotide are effective here. However, deviations were found in all vitamins, especially in the limit range of the standard values, which can be explained by the different levels of active and inactive components.

In 5 to 15 % of the cases, functional deficiencies were found which could not be detected by conventional substance analysis.

This affected both blood levels and intracellular levels."

Edit: I want to add, that the price per vitamin b seems to be the same as regular vitamin b tests.
 

Wishful

Senior Member
Messages
5,684
Location
Alberta
You could basically have normal Vitamin B12 levels but the vitamin b12 in your blood may not be very bioactive and thus not nourishing enough for the bacteria or your very own cells.

I can imagine the bacteria consuming the nutrients properly, yet the human cells have a dysfunction that prevents them from being used. Likewise, a particular human might be able to metabolize a form of nutrient that most humans can't do efficiently, and the bacteria is chosen for that majority.

I can imagine this method having some use, but I certainly don't see it as problem-free. Also, I expect the uncertainty in the method (and the other method), will be exploited to convince customers that they got good value for their money (increasing word of mouth advertising) and to sell more unnecessary supplements.

To me the best test is to try the supplement and see if you notice a difference. I suppose that can miss the 'reduces the chance for <nasty disease> by .0x% if you take large amounts daily' effects, but nothing is perfect. Oversupplementation can have negative effects too.
 

Hip

Senior Member
Messages
17,824
In 5 to 15 % of the cases, functional deficiencies were found which could not be detected by conventional substance analysis.

That's interesting, I searched the webpage for that info, but somehow did not notice it.

Given that, it would be interesting to have a group of ME/CFS patients try this test, in a study.

I believe IMD lab will accept blood samples from abroad.
 
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Messages
56
I think so. One of the reasons I felt compelled to open this thread is the fact that i saw imd berlin pop up here and there in other threads. So some users may already be familiar with them.
Best wishes