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Our ability to measure CD-57 counts represents a breaththrough in Lyme Disease treatment. It can be used to help determine how active the infection it, how well the treatment is working, and whether, after treatment ends, a relapse is likely to occur.

This is how it works:

Chronic Lyme infections are known to suppress the immune system. The Lyme spirochete can affect all major cell types of the immune system, but it most clearly can impact a specific subset of the Natural Killer cells. This is called the CD57 subset.

Just as in HIV infection, which suppresses T-cell counts, Lyme Disease suppresses Killer cell counts. As in HIV infection, where abnormally low T-cell counts are routinely used as a marker of how active the infection is, in Lyme we can use the CD-57 count to indicate how active the Lyme infection is.

When Lyme is active, the CD-57 count is suppressed. We currently are having our tests run by LabCorp, as published studies were based on their assays. At this lab, the expected range for the CD-57 count is above 60. In my experience, those who do not have Lyme, or those who are cured of the infection, typically have counts above 180. However, in the chronic Lyme patient, CD-57 counts are usually well below 60. (The limit ranges are 60-360).

This test can be run at the start of therapy, then every several months to document the effectiveness of treatment. One hopes to see a rising trend over time. When antibiotic therapy is finally at an end, if the CD-57 count is not in the normal range, then a Lyme relapse is more likely to occur.

Because at this point we believe that only Borrelia will affect the CD-57 this way, a sick patient with a high CD-57 count (I'm assuming that it's above 360) is probably ill with something other than Lyme, such as a co-infection.

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Posts: 749 | From New Hope, PA | Registered: May 2002  |  IP: Logged |