Role of C3a and C4a Complement Proteins in Chronic Lyme Disease:
www.publichealthalert.org/role-of-c3a-and-c4a-complement-proteins-in-chronic-lyme-disease.htmlTests don't always diagnose accurately or give reliable info on your status/progress...
Excerpt:
"Although the CD57 marker has been a helpful tool, it has not been without its problems. We don't yet understand what confounding variables can skew the results. Some very sick patients start out with normal or above-normal CD57 levels. Other patients' levels stay low and never increase with treatment, despite the fact that they are symptom-free and otherwise seem completely cured. There may be large day to day variation in the CD57 level as I observed in a study looking at twice daily blood draws over 3 days for both Lyme patients and well patients. The level can increase or decrease as much as 50% within the same day. So the CD57 level can be a useful marker for some patients but it is not always reliable and consistent.
Enter C3a and C4a, the new kids on the block in the world of Lyme diagnosis and treatment. The "C" in C3a and C4a stands for complement. Complement proteins work with antibodies to destroy pathogens. They activate immunity through control of inflammation, phagocytosis (ingestion of pathogens by white blood cells) and cell death by lysis (breaking of the cell membrane). There are about
30 of these complement proteins that circulate in the bloodstream making up complement "cascades", so called because activation of one protein initiates activation of the next, etc.
.....For purposes of our C3a/C4a study, Dr. Stricker divided the chronic Lyme patients into two groups: 1) those with primarily musculoskeletal symptoms (MSK) and 2) those with neurological symptoms severe enough to warrant treatment with intravenous antibiotics. Interestingly, C4a levels were significantly elevated in the MSK group, but only slightly (and not statistically significantly) elevated in the neurologic group. C4a levels were also elevated in the AIDS and systemic lupus groups, but not in the healthy controls. In Lyme patients with elevated C4a, the levels decreased in those who responded well to antibiotic treatment. Those patients who did not improve on antibiotics (more often than not, the severe neurological group) had no statistically significant reduction in their C4a levels.
Keep in mind that almost all chronic Lyme patients have some degree of neurological involvement. The neurological Lyme patients in the study who did not have elevated levels of C4a were those with severe cognitive dysfunction as evidenced by abnormal blood flow to areas of the brain noted on their SPECT brain scans. Examples of these patients are those who presented with symptoms mimicking Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, or Autism Spectrum Disorder. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients do not have cognitive deficits and, in fact, Lyme patients with this type of severe neurological presentation did have elevated C4a levels. "
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