GI Effects Methane Dysbiosis Score Test

The Methane Dysbiosis Score is a pattern-based index built from large stool and breath-test datasets. It looks at your usual gut bacteria (commensals) and asks: does this look like the microbiome pattern we see in people with higher methane on breath tests and signs of reduced gut immune activity?

In Genova’s data, higher methane dysbiosis scores were associated with:

• Immune suppression signs in the gut, like low fecal sIgA (a key protective antibody in the gut) and low EPX (a marker from certain white blood cells that help defend the gut).
• More methanogens, the microbes that produce methane gas.
• Higher rates of bacterial overgrowth and potentially pathogenic bacteria, as well as certain parasites.

A higher Methane Dysbiosis Score doesn’t prove that methane-producing microbes are the cause of your symptoms, but it suggests your microbiome pattern may go along with weaker local immune defenses and more “opportunistic” organisms.