The Root Cause Medicine Podcast · Rupa Health

The Organic Acids Profile in Clinical Practice with Cat Simmons and Cass Nelson-Dooley

·45 min·2 clips

Cass Nelson-Dooley says urine markers can guide B vitamins, amino acids, and antidepressant decisions.

1. The Root Cause Medicine Podcast episode centers on the organic acids profile from Diagnostic Solutions and how Dr. Kate Gretzky says it can show cortisol, mitochondrial health, and Krebs cycle function. 2. Dr. Kate Gretzky hosts Cass Nelson-Dooley and Kat Simmons, two educators who work on lab interpretation and say they are teaching a six-week bootcamp on organic acids at Rupe University. 3. The episode asks what a first-morning urine organic acids test is for, what it measures, and how clinicians can use its patterns in practice. 4. Cass Nelson-Dooley says she came from medicinal plant discovery, earned a master's in pharmacy and biomedical science, and spent almost 18 years in lab testing after joining Metametrix Clinical Laboratory. 5. Kat Simmons says she is a clinical dietitian with a combined exercise physiology and metabolism background from Colorado State, and she worked in cardiovascular lab testing before moving into metabolomics. 6. Both guests emphasize that the test was redesigned by Diagnostic Solutions in 2021 and further revamped with more intuitive algorithmic reporting. 7. The collection method is a first-morning urine sample collected at home, which Kat Simmons describes as simple, clean, and private. 8. Cass Nelson-Dooley explains that the organic acids are metabolic byproducts, and elevated urine levels can indicate an enzyme issue, a cofactor need, or a nutrient deficiency such as B6. 9. She notes that the panel started as a tool for inborn errors of metabolism and is now used in integrative and functional medicine for broader clinical questions. 10. Kat Simmons says the mitochondrial section maps glycolysis and the Krebs cycle, and she names lactic acid, succinic acid, and malic acid as examples of markers in that pathway section. 11. Cass Nelson-Dooley says toxicity can interfere with mitochondrial enzymes, including heavy metals, while nutrient support such as CoQ10, B vitamins, lipoic acid, carnitine, and riboflavin is often the first place to look. 12. The detoxification section includes glutathione markers, oxidative stress, glucuric acid, xylene exposure, styrofoam exposure, and hyperic acid as a glycine conjugation marker. 13. Kat Simmons and Cass Nelson-Dooley both say the microbial metabolite section can point to dysbiosis or overgrowth even though it does not identify exact organisms. 14. They discuss rabinitol as the strongest fungal marker, and they also mention citromylic acid, tricarballylic acid, and tartaric acid as compounds that can relate to fungi, diet, or bacteria. 15. Kat Simmons says the stool test and organic acids profile answer different questions, and she says many patients may benefit from running both rather than choosing one. 16. The episode also covers pediatric use, where Cass Nelson-Dooley says adult ranges are used on children and that an educational consultant at Diagnostic Solutions can help interpret a three-year-old differently from a 12-year-old. 17. Kat Simmons says a five-year-old report showed subtle fatty acid processing issues and low glutathione, and follow-up supplementation improved fatigue. 18. The tone is technical but practical, with both guests translating biochemical markers into clinical decisions and cautioning that patterns matter more than isolated numbers. 19. Practitioners who want urine-based pathway testing for mitochondria, detox, gut, and mood would likely find this useful. 20. Clinicians looking for a simple lifestyle episode without lab interpretation detail would probably skip it.

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