Intrinsic factor antibody

[Pixielula]

Hi guys I’ve just had an intrinsic factor antibody blood test came back as 1.45U/ml with I think a reference range of 0.00-6.00 can anyone explain what that means?

[fbirder]

It means that the test is negative.

But around 50% of people who do have PA test negative.

[Pixielula in reply to fbirder]

Awe man thanks fbirder, I kinda thought my B12 deficiency was due to long term use of metformin and omeperazole. I have not had any now for a year and a half, but still need my injections. My daughter is B12 deficient also, so I thought it must be PA...... my doctor in wales said they only give injections to people who have PA not for a just a deficiency. I will be carrying on self injecting as my surgery hasn’t done one in over two years. I was hoping it might come back positive so they would at least start me back on the 12 week regime I was on before. Maybe I will leave it a bit and keep getting private test see what comes up!!!

[fbirder in reply to Pixielula]

Your doctor needs to read the British National Formulary entry for hydroxocobalamin. The very first entry gives the recommended regimen of B12 injections for :

Prophylaxis of macrocytic anaemias associated with vitamin B12 deficiency

So the BNF recommend that B12 injections be given to everybody with a B12 deficiency to prevent them from getting macrocytic anaemia.

[Gambit62 Administrator]

The IFA test isn't very sensitive - the method finds it hard to distinguish between IFAB and other metabolites with the result that any result below 6 is inconclusive - could be IFAB or other chemicals. It isn't until the result gets to 6 that its conclusive that you have IFAB.

A positive result for IFA is a good indicator that you have PA but a negative is a long way from conclusive evidence that you don't have PA - so much so that the current guidelines produced by the British Council for Standards in Haematology refer to IFAB-negative PA.

[Pixielula in reply to Gambit62]

I find it strange that my daughter was diagnosed at the age of 23 and she is on no meds except thyroxine!!

[Buttercup1283]

I wondered what that meant as mine was 0.8 and the reference range was 0-8.00 I was never told positive or negative and every reference I found never has number just pos or neg.