Originally Posted by mimimomo  Examples in Animals
Food sensitivity testing for common offending allergens and peptides in dogs can be achieved. The sensitivity and testing is for grains most often associated with inflammatory bowel disease and other symptoms of adverse food reactions – such as, but not limited to wheat and other glutens, corn and soy. These three grain types are among the major constituents (top 5 ingredients) that make up the bulk of standard commercial kibble fed to most dogs. Another common allergen in pet foods or animal food compositions is beef, and the testing and screening is also directed to but not limited to other meats, fish, dairy, eggs, other grains, botanicals, oils from seeds or fish, botanicals, vegetables, nuts, or fruit.
A primary example of an immunologic food sensitivity or intolerance is sensitivity to wheat or other gluten foods, for example barley, rice, millet, and oats. In the Irish Setter breed, for example, wheat-sensitive enteropathy is an heritable condition. Immunological reactions to gluten foods causes atrophy of the intestinal villi and inflammation of the small intestine, which, in turn, results in diarrhea and weight loss from malabsorption of fluid, electrolytes, and dietary nutrients. Even though chronic or intermittent diarrhea and intermittent vomiting are the most common symptoms of this food sensitivity, there have been few studies of the prevalence of this condition in animals being presented to veterinarians with chronic diarrhea or vomiting or other common gastrointestinal symptoms. Furthermore, beyond costly measurements of serum IgE –mediated antibodies, there are no adequate methods in veterinary medicine to diagnose or noninvasively test for immunologic food sensitivities or intolerance. This frequently results in either no diagnosis or the missed diagnosis of an immunologic food sensitivity or intolerance.
Despite this situation, many animals with gluten or other food sensitivity or intolerance do not have diarrhea or weight loss, but instead have other signs and symptoms such as vague abdominal pain, nausea, abdominal bloating, flatulence, chronic fatigue, constipation, poor growth and maturity, iron deficiency anemia, osteoporosis, seizures or other neurologic disorders, or even just elevated serum liver enzyme levels. Some animals may be asymptomatic.
Furthermore, animals with gluten or other food sensitivity or intolerance may not have fully developed intestinal lesions. Therefore, the immunologic food sensitivity or intolerance of these animals may not be properly diagnosed using known testing methods, such as endoscopic intestinal biopsy and blood or serum testing. Additionally, these animals may present with other immunologic diseases such as the autoimmune diseases of skin, liver, joints, kidneys, pancreas, and thyroid gland, or microscopic colitis.
Saliva testing for food sensitivity and intolerance in animals differs significantly from all other food allergen tests available for use in animals. It is highly reproducible and clinically relevant. In serum, the food antigen or peptide being tested, and any specific IgA or IgG antibody in serum bind to each other and then fix complement. In saliva, the food antigen or peptide being tested reacts directly with the IgA or IgM antibody in the test animal’s saliva.
Delayed food-related sensitivities begin in the gastro-intestinal tract when the intestinal lining becomes hyperpermeable. This problem is known as "leaky gut syndrome" or intestinal dysbiosis, and is defined as an increase in permeability of the intestinal mucosa to partially digested protein macromolecules, micromolecules, antigens and toxins. The immunological reaction to these proteins or other molecules in the liver initiates and perpetuates chronic food sensitivity or intolerance. When the gut is unhealthy, the rest of the body is unhealthy. The disease process that ensues is typically chronic or intermittent and often involves the gut and skin, as well as internal organs such as the liver. Gastro-intestinal tract function is disrupted when the lining of the gut is inflamed or damaged. With a leaky gut, large food antigens can be absorbed into the body. The body's defense systems then attack this antigen or antigens and the result is the production of antibodies against what was once a harmless, innocuous food ingredient. These IgA or IgG antibodies and immune complexes are formed in the bloodstream and circulate throughout the body where they can damage other tissues along the way. In saliva, these reactants are typically IgA or IgM.
|