New lyme labs results.. ..help needed..

[skarey]

I got the results back from my LLMD today in the mail.  He did the LTT ELISPOT and the CD57.

The ELISPOT was negative and said there is no indication of actual cellular activity against Borrelia.  Don't really know what this means... not even sure really what the test is.... I think it may be kinda like the Elisa?  

My CD57 Results read:

CD 57 flow cytomerty

Leucocytes                            6.7       /ul       (2.6-10.0)
Peripheral Lymphocytes          35.3     %        (18.0 -51.0)
Lymphocytes                          2365               (468-5100)
Natural Killer Cells                  -3.3      %        (6-29)
Natural Killer Cells                   78                  (60-700)
CD 57 Positive NK-Cells          -13                  (100-544)

   It says :  The CD57 cell count is an indication for a chronic immunsuppressive situation, caused by Borrelia burgdorferi.

I'm not good a interpreting these labs and will call dr on Tuesday when he is back in office.  However it looks like my CD57NK cells is very low.

  Also on my blood count my MCHC  is -31.7   normal range  32-36
                         and my thrombocytes are -143    normal range  150-350

and again, my Eosin. Granulocytes are +7.10       normal range 0-4

Anyone that can help?

Thanks.

[skarey]

Ok so I was looking over these results again.... and the ones with a - infront means "low" and the one with a + means "high".

I was confused... i thought it mean my cd57 were in the NEGATIVES!! haha...

[skarey]

anyone?

[patsy10]

Those are very hard to interpret.

[Hope75]

Yeah, I'm stumped.  Probably everyone else is too, hence the silence, LOL!  I've never heard of these.  Doesn't mean they aren't important!  You might have to talk with your doc more in depth.  All I can tell you is, something is definitely abnormal on that testing given the normal values in parentheses versus your results.  I will try to copy and paste and send to one of my support group Lymies.....

[Hope75]

Ok, I asked and this is what she said:

I am not sure what elispot is, maybe like eia or elisa,cd57 being low is a good indication of lyme, esos that high my indicate a parasite,some docs would say its no biggy or allergies but I am guessing parasite.the others are low but so are my daughters and she has Lyme also and Dr. _(LLMD) wasnt concerned so I am thinking its common in Lyme and coinfection.  Hope this helps.

She is pretty knowledgeable and I hope this may shed some light for you.  

[skarey]

Hope,
  Thank you so much for your help!!   I've been doing a lot of research on these.  The CD57 NK pos cells are supposebly only effected from lyme and sometimes HIV.  Well I know for a fact I don't have HIV.  Low numbers indicate lyme... mine is 13 which is really low.  I guess it measures how effected your immune system is an how bad the lyme is.  

I still can't find hardly any info on the Elispot.  I think it is similar to Melisa, and maybe Elisa, but it's supposed to be much better.  I'm totally neg on that. So this concerns me.  So many varied results on different tests.    

I read that about the high Eos as well.  EWWW... I hope I don't have parasites.  I also read somewhere that it can be high in infection too, and sometimes meds can do it.  

But I have read many times that lyme patients also sometimes have parasites.  Gross... this I will for sure be bringing up with my dr.  Wouldn't I have some sore of stomach problems with parasites though?  I have NO issues there.

Thanks again for your help.

[JackieCalifornia]

From Wikipedia:

"The Enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (ELISPOT) assay is a common method for monitoring immune responses in humans and animals. ...  The ELISPOT assay is based on, and was developed from a modified version of the ELISA immunoassay. ELISPOT assays were originally developed to enumerate B cells secreting antigen-specific antibodies, and have subsequently been adapted for various tasks, especially the identification and enumeration of cytokine-producing cells at the single cell level. Simply put, at appropriate conditions the ELISPOT assay allows visualization of the secretory product of individual activated or responding cells. Each spot that develops in the assay represents a single reactive cell. Thus, the ELISPOT assay provides both qualitative (type of immune protein) and quantitative (number of responding cells) information. ..."

So it's like ELISA and focuses on your immune system function.

[skarey]

So... about the ELISPOT...if it's similar to the Elisa, than should I not be too concerned about it being TOTALLY NEG?   This one test is throwing me off... all other lyme tests have showed something.

Thanks guys!

[JackieCalifornia]

Well, I didn't get past a year of chemistry, much less this fancy stuff, so I can't tell you.  You can read the Wikipedia explanation, but it's one of those that was written by someone who understands it all, for those who are already familiar with the field.

It reads to me (in my ignorance) that there are different tests for different antigens, which are substances (usually foreign to the body) that cause an immune response.  In me, that would include peanuts.  The ELISPOT seems designed to detect tiny amounts of very specific antigens (peanuts), but without knowing what your MDs tested you for (peanuts or walnuts?), there's no conclusion to come to.  

Your MDs should explain the test, what they tested for, and what the results mean.  Somebody else here, please comment!