How do you read the 57 test?

[Guest guest]

I had the 57 test done after antibiotic treatment. My doctor feels that my

immune system should kick in to fight for me. I had tested in the low normal. I

did have a relapse since. But my doctor now will probably not do that test. Do

you know anymore about how to understand the results of that test? Margo

DeMarco <ponyrubs@...> wrote: It is a measure of an immune

cell - a type of Natural Killer cell - that is nearly always depressed in

chronic Lyme Disease patients, and not in other chronic illnesses. It must be

done through LabCorp or PathLab - not Quest. It will be listed as the Stricker

Panel NK CD-57 (or something close to that).

I think it's worth having as part of your decision-making process.

D.

CC <cobchc@...> wrote: Hi ...if that is a test of some kind...I don't

beleive I have

had that one...will see my LLMD on Thursday....but evertyhing I have

read about this disease indicates that testing is not definitive! Is

the CD-57 a definitive test?? Does anyone on this board have any

recommendations about getting a definitive diagnosis??

[Guest guest]

Margo,

Here is a case study you can download/read which may help:

LONGTERM DECREASE IN THE CD57 LYMPHOCYTE SUBSET IN A PATIENT WITH CHRONIC

LYME DISEASE

http://www.anapsid.org/cnd/files/strickercd57.pdf

It's by Stricker Burrascano, and Winger. It's from 2002, so not brand new,

however some of the docs (including mine) still seem to be using the CD57 to

monitor treatment and possibilty of relapse.

If nothing else, a low CD57 is said to be a " marker of active Lyme

infection. "

I have heard that results do not always correlate with symptoms (what about

Lyme does make sense?). This is true with me. I have lower results than other

people I know but they are more symptomatic than I (maybe they have more

co-infections, etc.?)

Ann

In a message dated 1/3/07 3:41:01 PM, pelicangallery@... writes:

> I had the 57 test done after antibiotic treatment. My doctor feels that my

> immune system should kick in to fight for me. I had tested in the low normal.

> I did have a relapse since. But my doctor now will probably not do that

> test. Do you know anymore about how to understand the results of that test?

Margo

>

[Guest guest]

Hi, Margo,

I do know that most LLMDs want to see a value above 100 before discontinuing

antibiotics. Just reaching 60 or 70 isn't good enough.

I'm not sure what information you're looking for. It is an immune cell - a

Natural Killer cell - a cell that kills cancer cells and cells that have been

invaded by viruses... to be honest, I'm not sure it goes after bacteria - I'll

have to look it up. (Blast my Lyme brain.)

The test just measures how many of these cells you have in a specific amount of

blood. People with chronic Lyme don't have many. I'm not sure if Lyme kills

them off, or keeps the body from making them. But once the disease is

controlled, the CD-57 count will jump back up.

It seems there are a few people on the Lyme groups who have had cancer. I often

wonder if this is because their Lyme Disease depressed the CD-57 count and

allowed the cancer to get a foothold. Dunno.

You can always ask your doctor to run it. He might be leaving it out in order

to save money. Some insurance companies won't cover it unless you also have a

CDC-positive western blot. And even then, they won't cover umpity-poo re-tests.

So, another opportunity to pay out of pocket.

D.

margo rochelle <pelicangallery@...> wrote:

I had the 57 test done after antibiotic treatment. My doctor feels that my

immune system should kick in to fight for me. I had tested in the low normal. I

did have a relapse since. But my doctor now will probably not do that test. Do

you know anymore about how to understand the results of that test? Margo

DeMarco <ponyrubs@...> wrote: It is a measure of an immune

cell - a type of Natural Killer cell - that is nearly always depressed in

chronic Lyme Disease patients, and not in other chronic illnesses. It must be

done through LabCorp or PathLab - not Quest. It will be listed as the Stricker

Panel NK CD-57 (or something close to that).

I think it's worth having as part of your decision-making process.

D.

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