posted
I'm wondering if anyone can help me out here.....
I got a test called TNF-Alpha done, and I'm a little confused what it means. From what I've gathered on the net it's an inflammation marker?? My test came back low <1 out of 20. Is this a good thing? Thanks for shedding some light on this, some of these bloodtests are confusing!
-------------------- "don't ever write anyone off, you'll never know who or what they will become" Posts: 115 | From la la land | Registered: Apr 2007
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posted
Not sure anyone really understands completely the role of inflammatory markers in infectious diseases, or whether/how to modify them.
The immune system produces a number of substances in response to an infection. TNF-alpha is a proinflammatory cytokine. There are many other cytokines involved in inflammation. Some are described as anti-inflammatory. Balancing these so you have the right amounts of each at the right time is the key to an effective immune response to the pathogen.
I think right now this test may have been ordered as a way of collecting information on how lyme patients' immune systems respond to the infection.
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-------------------- "don't ever write anyone off, you'll never know who or what they will become" Posts: 115 | From la la land | Registered: Apr 2007
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Marnie
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 773
posted
Were you on abx. at the time of the testing?
Production of TNF alpha may be effected by several things:
There was no temporal effect on the TNF-.ALPHA. production induced by a low-dose LPS for one month, but
the level was affected by age and light exercise.
This system detected light exercise-induced changes in the TNF-.ALPHA. level more sensitively than changes induced by a high-dose LPS.
All patients in category IIIa had the genotype associated with low TNF-alpha production
compared with 20% of IIIb patients.
It may be postulated that
men with low TNF-alpha responses
have longer and sustained induction of white blood cell attracting chemokines because TNF-alpha induces IL-10 production and low IL-10 production is proinflammatory.
``These results indicate that different cellular mechanisms contribute to
antibiotic-mediated regulation of TNF-alpha
and iNOS secretion in mouse macrophages in response to E. coli versus S. aureus.''
PMID: 12935353
Abx. alter our immune response in other infections as well:
Thus, antibiotic treatment for MAC - Mycobacterium avium complex - results in decreased levels of IL-6 and TNF-a in serum in HIV-1-infected persons who are not on HAART.
posted
Thanks Marnie, I was on augmenton (the third day) when I took this test. Makes sense. Thanks for the articles too.
-------------------- "don't ever write anyone off, you'll never know who or what they will become" Posts: 115 | From la la land | Registered: Apr 2007
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