Does a normal 2-hydroxybutyric result mean that methylation is working well?

[Sarah94]

I've got my organic acid test results back from Great Plains.

In the results document it labels 2-hydroxybutyric as a marker for methylation, and says that high values may indicate methylation defects.

My result is bang in the middle of the normal range for hydroxybutyric. Does that mean that I definitely don't have any methylation defects?

 

[junkcrap50]

My result is bang in the middle of the normal range for hydroxybutyric. Does that mean that I definitely don't have any methylation defects?

From what I know: No, not necessarily. I think it's just a rough measure of under or over methylation. You need to look at all of the methylation metabolites to see what's fully going on.. A Organic Acid's test doesn't tell you much about methylation, but rather metabolism. You need a methylation panel instead to get a better picture on your methylation status.

Here's a good website to help interpret organic acid test results and their entry on 2-hydroxybutyric acid: https://healthmatters.io/understand-blood-test-results/2-hydroxybutyric

From reading the link above and this discussion here, it seems like being in the middle means you're CBS pathway is working normally and you're producing glutathione. It's one of the end results of methylation cycle, so logically other parts of methylation must be working normally to get that end product.