Intrinsic Factor Blocking Antibody details
What Intrinsic Factor Blocking Antibody shows
Intrinsic factor is a protein made in your stomach that binds vitamin B12 so it can be absorbed in the small intestine. In pernicious anemia, an autoimmune condition, the immune system makes antibodies that stop intrinsic factor working. This test measures intrinsic factor blocking antibodies in your blood and is used when B12 deficiency or a related anemia is found, to help work out the cause. A positive result strongly supports pernicious anemia. A negative result does not exclude it, because many people with the condition do not have detectable antibodies. Recent vitamin B12 injections can interfere with some versions of this test, so it is interpreted alongside B12 levels and other tests.
Tests that include Intrinsic Factor Blocking Antibody
Intrinsic Factor, produced by cells lining the stomach, binds Vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin) to facilitate absorption of the vitamin. Blocking antibody impedes the action of Intrinsic Factor as observed in approximately half of the patients who develop pernicious anemia.
- Intrinsic Factor Blocking Antibody Measures antibodies that block intrinsic factor, a protein needed to absorb vitamin B12, used to help evaluate pernicious anemia as a cause of B12 deficiency.
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