Organic Acid Profile

The term organic acids refer to a broad class of compounds used in fundamental metabolic processes in the body. Chemically, they share many common features. Organic acid analysis has traditionally been used as an assessment of many aspects of metabolic abnormalities. The technology has advanced to the point that we are now able to detect aberrations in normal metabolic processes that are linked to functional nutritional deficiencies. Such deficiencies are usually evident in clinical assessment long before functional impairment may occur. For example, elevations of methylmalonic acid and homocysteine are well-documented examples of this very phenomenon. Elevations of these two organic acids represent a functional deficiency of vitamin B12, folic acid, pyridoxine, or vitamin B6, and, sometimes, other nutrients that act as methyl donors.

Those individuals with high levels of methylmalonic acid and homocysteine can be at increased risk for heart disease. To correctly identify this metabolic limitation and provide adequate nutritional support to treat this physiologic deficiency could, inevitably prevent the occurrence of heart disease in such an individual. This is an example of one of the advantages of organic acid profiling.

MetaMetrix in Norcross, Georgia, performs the organic acid test. It uses a first morning urine sample. A kit will be provided for you. You will need to complete insurance and billing invoices and mail the urine sample in the package that is provided for you.

The information gleaned from the organic acid screen will focus on profiling the overall physiologic efficiency of energy production, specifically as it relates to the citric acid cycle. This is an accurate and non-invasive way to come to a better understanding of what metabolic blocks may be occurring in one's overall capacity to generate normal energy at the cellular level. It will also include functional co-factors and various other metabolic indicators. It will also provide an assessment of the efficiency of carbohydrate metabolism, the efficiency of overall physiologic detoxification efficiency, fatty acid oxidation, and the adequacy of specific neurotransmitter status and, also, the assessment of the efficiency of the gastrointestinal system.

Laboratory test results will be reviewed at your follow-up visit. It generally takes about two weeks to receive test results from the organic acid profile.

Dale Guyer, M.D.