I like the way Ginger Savely explains what the CD57 markers are. Here is a link to that article:
sci.tech-archive.net/Archive/sci.med.diseases.lyme/2007-04/msg00280.html My poor fogged in brain is having issues with trying to put things into words, but here is the basic explanation from what I could understand:
"of NK cells are CD57+. A below normal count has been associated with chronic Lyme disease by the work of Drs. Raphael Stricker and Edward Winger.
No one knows for sure why CD57+ NK cells are low in Lyme disease patients, but it is important to note that many disease states that are often confused
with chronic Lyme (MS, systemic lupus, rheumatoid arthritis) are not associated with low CD57+ NK counts.
The good news is that for most Lyme patients the CD57+ NK level increases as treatment progresses and health is regained. CD57 markers can also be
expressed on other kinds of cells, including T-cells, so it is important to distinguish between CD57+ T-cells and CD57+ NK cells.
Clinicians need to be aware that many testing laboratories claiming to perform the CD57 test are actually looking at CD57+ T-cells rather than CD57+ NK cells, which are the cells of interest in chronic Lyme disease."