At a glance
- The GI-MAP™ reports quantities, not just positives — a figure like 1.2e5 means 1.2 × 105, or 120,000 DNA copies per gram of stool.
- <dl means “below detection limit” — the organism was not found above the assay’s floor. For pathogens, that is the good result.
- The report runs in a fixed order: pathogens → H. pylori → commensal bacteria → opportunists → fungi → viruses → parasites → intestinal health markers.
- Detected does not mean diseased. Interpretation belongs with a qualified practitioner; this page explains the structure, not your case.
The GI-MAP™ (Gastrointestinal Microbial Assay Plus) reports 85+ markers from a single stool sample, and the report does not arrive with a translator. This GI-MAP interpretation guide follows the report in its own order — pathogens first, intestinal health markers last — and explains what each section measures, what the numbers mean, and which findings deserve a practitioner’s eyes rather than a search engine’s.
Two notes first. If you wanted collection instructions rather than help reading results, see how it works; the delivery timeline is on the results page. And this is a guide to the report’s structure, not an interpretation of your case — the GI-MAP™ is a laboratory test, not a diagnosis, and no article can weigh your history and medications the way a qualified practitioner can.
Learn the notation first: what the numbers actually say
Every quantitative result on the report is expressed in scientific notation as DNA copies per gram of stool. 1.2e5 means 1.2 × 105 — 120,000 copies per gram. Note that 1.2e8 is a thousand times more than 1.2e5, which is easy to miss when the figures sit side by side. Reference ranges are set by Diagnostic Solutions Laboratory and printed next to each marker, so you are always comparing your value against the lab’s own threshold, not a universal medical standard.
<dl means below detection limit: the assay looked for that organism’s DNA and found nothing above its measurable floor. For pathogens and parasites, <dl is the result you are hoping to see.
One more principle before the organism names: detection is not the same as clinical significance. Quantitative PCR is sensitive enough to find organisms in people who feel perfectly well — exactly why the GI-MAP™ reports quantities instead of plus signs. (How qPCR compares with other methods is covered in the PCR stool test guide.) To follow along against a real layout, open the sample report.
Section 1 — Pathogens
The report opens with bacterial, parasitic and viral pathogens: organisms with an established ability to cause gastrointestinal disease, several reported alongside their toxin genes. Here more than anywhere, quantity and context decide meaning. Healthy people can carry low levels of some listed organisms without symptoms, so a detected pathogen starts a conversation with your practitioner about symptoms, exposure history and the reported level — not an automatic prescription. Our gut infections hub covers the individual organisms in more depth.
Section 2 — H. pylori and virulence factors
H. pylori gets a section to itself because carriage is common and consequence varies enormously. The GI-MAP™ reports how much H. pylori DNA was found and screens for virulence factors — genes such as cagA and vacA that are associated with higher-risk strains. A low level with no virulence factors reads very differently from a high level with several, which is the whole argument for quantified testing here. The H. pylori biomarker guide goes deeper; if this is your only question, the targeted $237 H. Pylori Profile means you do not have to buy the full panel.
Section 3 — Normal and commensal bacteria
This is the census of bacteria that are supposed to be there, and it is the section where low results matter as much as high ones. Depleted keystone species — Akkermansia muciniphila, which maintains the gut’s mucus layer, or Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, a major producer of the anti-inflammatory short-chain fatty acid butyrate — get as much practitioner attention as any overgrowth. Elevated commensals are not automatically good news either; imbalance in either direction is part of what practitioners mean by dysbiosis. The biomarker guides cover the commensal panel organism by organism.
Section 4 — Opportunistic and overgrowth organisms
Opportunists live quietly in many healthy guts and only earn their name when they overgrow or when the host’s defenses are down. That makes this the most misread section of the report: a single mild elevation is common and often means little in isolation, while several elevations together — especially alongside low secretory IgA or depleted commensals — form a pattern worth acting on. The full species list, organised by the report’s own groupings, is on the opportunistic bacteria page; overgrowth patterns also come up in the SIBO and IBS guides.
Sections 5–7 — Fungi, viruses and parasites
The fungal section reports Candida and other yeasts. Low-level detection is common and normal; what practitioners care about is sustained overgrowth in a symptomatic person — see the candida overgrowth guide for that distinction. A short viral section follows, and then the parasites: protozoa such as Giardia, Cryptosporidium and Blastocystis hominis. Some of these are unambiguous pathogens; others, Blastocystis in particular, are also found in symptom-free people and their significance is still debated — that is the honest state of the science, not a hedge. The CDC’s parasite pages are a good conventional reference, and our parasites guide covers the GI-MAP™ targets specifically.
Want to see the whole layout before or after you order? The sample report shows every section on this page.
View the sample report → Order the GI-MAP™Section 8 — Intestinal health markers
The final section leaves the microbes and measures how your gut is actually functioning — the part of the panel descended from the classic comprehensive stool analysis:
- Pancreatic elastase-1 — a measure of digestive enzyme output; low values suggest the pancreas may be under-producing.
- Steatocrit — the percentage of fat in the stool; high values mean dietary fat is escaping digestion.
- Beta-glucuronidase — a bacterial enzyme involved in the recirculation of estrogens and toxins; elevations are a flag practitioners consider, not a diagnosis.
- Occult blood — hidden blood in the stool. Whatever else your report says, this is a finding your doctor should always know about.
- Secretory IgA — the gut’s frontline antibody; low values suggest weakened mucosal defenses, while high values can accompany an active immune response.
- Anti-gliadin IgA — the immune response to the gliadin fraction of gluten. Useful context, but it is not a celiac test.
- Calprotectin — the inflammation marker gastroenterologists themselves rely on; markedly elevated values are exactly the kind of finding to escalate to a GI physician. The NIH’s MedlinePlus explainer is a good plain-language reference.
- Zonulin (add-on) — an intestinal-permeability marker, included only on the GI-MAP™ + Zonulin panel at $600.
The last line: antibiotic-resistance genes
The report closes with antibiotic-resistance genes detected in the bacterial DNA of your sample. It cannot tell you which organism carries a given gene, but if antimicrobial treatment is ever on the table, it tells the prescriber which drug classes may fail — information for your practitioner, not something to act on yourself.
Patterns practitioners look for in GI mapping results
Single markers rarely decide anything; combinations do. Three illustrations of how a practitioner reads across sections:
- Low elastase-1 with high steatocrit — a maldigestion pattern: enzyme output is low and undigested fat is showing up downstream, so the conversation turns to digestive support before anything antimicrobial.
- Low secretory IgA with several elevated opportunists — defenses down while opportunists are up; many practitioners address the terrain rather than chasing each organism.
- Elevated calprotectin, especially with occult blood — this moves the case out of functional-medicine territory: it is the standard signal to involve a gastroenterologist and rule out inflammatory bowel disease.
These are illustrations of reasoning, not rules to self-treat by.
Where self-interpretation should stop
Reading your own GI-MAP results is genuinely worthwhile — you will have a better conversation with whoever treats you. But deciding what to do about them is practitioner work, because the same elevation can call for opposite responses depending on your history and medications. If you do not have a practitioner, the Interpretation Review at $245 adds a licensed practitioner’s written, marker-by-marker analysis of your report. Still deciding whether the test fits you at all? Start with is the GI-MAP worth it — a page that honestly answers “no” for several kinds of buyer.
GI-MAP interpretation: common questions
How do I read my GI-MAP results?
Work through the report in its own order: pathogens, H. pylori, normal bacteria, opportunists, fungi, viruses, parasites, then the intestinal health markers. For each marker, compare the reported quantity against the lab's reference range and note anything flagged high or low. Then take the flagged items to a qualified practitioner, because single markers mean very little in isolation — it is the pattern across sections that carries the meaning.
What does <dl mean on the GI-MAP?
It stands for 'below detection limit'. The lab looked for that organism's DNA and did not find it above the assay's minimum measurable level. For pathogens and parasites, <dl is the result you are hoping to see.
What do high opportunistic bacteria mean?
Opportunistic organisms live in many healthy guts, so one elevated result is a finding, not a verdict. Practitioners weigh how high the level is, how many opportunists are elevated at once, and whether commensal bacteria and secretory IgA look depleted alongside them. No treatment decision should be made from that section alone.
Is there an official GI-MAP interpretive guide?
Diagnostic Solutions Laboratory publishes interpretive resources for the practitioners who order the test, and your own report carries the lab's current reference ranges. Because the panel evolves over time, your report is the authoritative version — a guide like this one explains the structure, but it does not replace what the lab printed on your results.
Who can interpret my GI-MAP?
A qualified health practitioner — functional medicine doctors, naturopaths, registered dietitians and FDN practitioners work with GI-MAP results routinely, and anything suggesting inflammation, such as elevated calprotectin or occult blood, belongs in front of a gastroenterologist. If you do not have a practitioner, the $245 Interpretation Review adds a licensed practitioner's written, marker-by-marker analysis of your report.