Can taking an antibiotic alter the results on the Infections Panel?
The Vibrant Wellness Infections Panel was validated in an apparently healthy, unmedicated, unsupplemented reference population. Vibrant’s Immunochip technology with chemiluminescence assay is very sensitive, so it can detect antibody levels in people taking antibiotics. However, the antibody signal can be reduced up to 10% in people taking antibiotics. For example, if the signal is 22.0 (high) without antibiotics, it could be reduced to 19.8 (moderate) when a person is on antibiotics. Practitioners and patients wishing to avoid any impact of medications on test results may consider waiting to test once the medication had been discontinued and cleared the body.
If I want to discontinue a medication or dietary supplement to establish a baseline finding, how long does it take medications or dietary supplements to ‘clear’?
With certain medications, the drug itself may have cleared the body, but the effect of the medication may be longer lasting. It is important to realize that there is a great deal of variability in the circulating levels and metabolic clearance rates of medications and dietary supplements. Additionally, clearance rates are affected by episodic fluctuations, diurnal rhythm, genetics, age, biological sex, menstrual cycle phase, renal function, liver function, immune function, and comorbidities.
Antibiotic half-lives vary considerably both between and within classes (e.g., penicillins, fluoroquinolones, macrolides, cephalosporins, tetracyclines and other classes), such that erythromycin has a half-life of 1.5-2 hours, but azithromycin has a much longer half-life of approximately 68 hours, so it will take much longer for clearance.
Clearance of Medications- The Rule of "Half Life Times Five"
Where can I find more information on test interference and elimination half-lives of medications and dietary supplements?
The National Library of Medicine’s Daily Med database is a searchable free database which provides the most recent drug and supplement labeling information submitted to the FDA. Drugs.com is another free searchable database with information on prescription and over-the-counter medications and supplements. A Google or Google Scholar search will also provide information on half-lives of medications and dietary supplement ingredients (e.g., capsaicin, turmeric, omega-3 fatty acids).
