CD8-CD57 + Lymphs (Absolute)

Other names: Abs.CD8-CD57+ Lymphs

check icon Optimal Result: 60 - 360 uL.

Why use the CD57 test?

The CD57 test is offered in some clinical laboratories and is being used by some health practitioners to evaluate and follow patients diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease.

What is Lyme disease?

Lyme disease, the most common vector-borne illness in the United States, is caused by Borrelia burgdorferi and transmitted by the bite of the Ixodes sp. tick (the deer tick).

The disease usually begins with erythema migrans, an expanding skin lesion at the site of the tick bite. Within several days or weeks, there is hematogenous dissemination of the spirochetes, and patients may present with dermatologic, neurological, cardiac, and rheumatologic involvement.

What is chronic lyme disease?

Chronic Lyme disease is a controversial term applied to a broad spectrum of patients, including individuals with Lyme disease and those with post-Lyme disease syndrome (PLDS), as well as patients with no evidence of current or past Borrelia burgdorferi infection. PLDS is defined as the persistence or relapse of nonspecific symptoms (such as fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, and cognitive complaints) in patients who have had Lyme disease and have received an adequate course of antibiotic therapy.

It has been reported that people with “chronic Lyme disease” have a decreased number of natural killer cells (NK cells), as defined by the CD57 marker.

Although acute infections can be treated with antibiotics, failure to treat may result in a chronic, debilitating illness characterized by musculoskeletal and neurologic symptoms. Chronic Lyme disease may be difficult to treat, but also to diagnose

What are white blood cells?

White blood cells (=leukocytes) help the body to fight infections and other diseases.

The human immune system consists of several different types of white blood cells with one category being called Lymphocytes.

Lymphocytes attack antigens (foreign proteins).

Lymphocytes consists of 3 subcategories of white blood cells known as B-Cells, T-Cells, and Natural Killer Cells.

  • B-cells – responsible for antibody production
  • T-cells – responsible for killing foreign invaders.
  • natural killer (NK) cells – responsible for killing foreign invaders.

Natural killer cells versus T-cells:

Natural killer cells are the first line of defense against foreign pathogens and they belong to the innate immune system. They are not specific in their immune response and recognize a wide variety of pathogens.

T-cells, on the other side, belong to the adaptive immune system. They are much more focused and highly specialized.

What are CD markers?

CD stands for cluster designation. CD is a glycoprotein molecule on the cell surface that acts as an identifying marker. Each different marker (or CD) on a cell is named with a number, which signifies the order in which the CD was discovered. Cells that have a certain kind of CD present on their surface are denoted as “+” for that CD type (e.g., a cell with CD57 markers on its surface is “CD57+”.

What are CD57 cells?

  • CD57 is a natural killer cell. A below-normal count of CD57+ cells has been associated with chronic Lyme disease. 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 (such as MS, systemic lupus, rheumatoid arthritis) are not
    associated with low CD57+ counts.
  • Borrelia are believed to be capable of reducing the total amount of CD57 natural killer cells in the human body.
  • It is generally believed that the lower the amount of CD57 natural killer cells in the body, the more chronic or progressive Lyme disease is, and the higher the amount, the closer a person is to remission.

What are CD8 cells?

The CD8 cells are generally referred to as T-cells, not to be confused with natural killer cells.

Controversy around using this test:

  • The utility of this test is controversial. Marques et. al. (2009 Clin. Vaccine Immunol. 16:1249-50) reported that there was no difference between the CD57 NK cell counts among patients with Lyme disease and normal controls.
  • There have been instances where high amounts of CD57 natural killers cells have been found in those with chronic Lyme disease, and low amounts of CD57 natural killer cells have been found in those who were believed to be in remission.

Possible treatment options:

There are various stages of Lyme infection, and treatments differ according to the stage of infection. It’s important to be aware of the various treatment options so that you can help your doctor determine what’s right for you. Treatment options include one or multiple rounds of antibiotics (oral, intravenous, intramuscular, etc). When a patient is diagnosed with Chronic Lyme Disease, doctors work to develop an extended treatment plan. Treating Chronic Lyme can last months, years or even longer. Decisions about the treatment of the patient with chronic Lyme disease need to be individually shaped by the clinician’s experience, the patient’s clinical profile and history of antibiotic responsiveness, and the emerging medical literature.

References:

Disclaimer:

The information on healthmatters.io is NOT intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice.

Reference Range(s):

CD57+/CD3- of % Lymphs 1-10 % Lymphocytes
CD57+/CD3- of % WBC

1-4 % WBC

CD57+/CD3- Cells/uL

20-258 Cells/uL

CD57+/CD3-/CD8- of % Lymphs 1-5 % Lymphocytes
CD57+/CD3-/CD8- of % WBC 1-3 % WBC
CD57+/CD3-/CD8- Cells/uL 20-114 Cells/uL
CD57+/CD8- of % Lymphs 1-15 % Lymphocytes
CD57+/CD8- of % WBC 1-4 % WBC
CD57+/CD8-Cells/uL 20-248 Cells/uL

All Your Lab Results.
One Simple Dashboard.

What does it mean if your CD8-CD57 + Lymphs (Absolute) result is too low?

The number of CD57 cells is decreased in chronic Lyme disease patients, particularly those with pronounced neurologic symptoms. Patients with low CD57 have significantly more co-infections and persistent immunologic defects than patients with higher counts. In patients that respond to antibiotic therapy, the number will come back to normal following treatment, but in patients with persistent Lyme disease, CD57 levels remain low.

Possible treatment options:

There are various stages of Lyme infection, and treatments differ according to the stage of infection. It’s important to be aware of the various treatment options so that you can help your doctor determine what’s right for you. Treatment options include one or multiple rounds of antibiotics (oral, intravenous, intramuscular, etc). When a patient is diagnosed with Chronic Lyme Disease, doctors work to develop an extended treatment plan. Treating Chronic Lyme can last months, years or even longer. Decisions about the treatment of chronic Lyme disease need to be individually shaped by the clinician’s experience, the patient’s clinical profile and history of antibiotic responsiveness, and the emerging medical literature.

Laboratories

Bring All Your Lab Results Together — In One Place

We accept reports from any lab, so you can easily collect and organize all your health information in one secure spot.

lab corp logo
genova diagnostics logo
quest diagnostics logo
dutch test logo
doctors data logo
vibrant america logo
diagnostic solutions logo
zrt laboratory logo
the great plains laboratory logo
cyrex laboratories logo
spectracell logo

Pricing Table

decoration

Personal plans

$15/ month

Complete Plan

Access your lab reports, explanations, and tracking tools.

  • Import lab results from any provider
  • Track all results with visual tools
  • Customize your reference ranges
  • Export your full lab history anytime
  • Share results securely with anyone
  • Begin with first report entered
  • Cancel or upgrade anytime

$250/ once

Unlimited Account

Pay once, access everything—no monthly fees, no limits.

  • Import lab results from any provider
  • Track all results with visual tools
  • Customize your reference ranges
  • Export your full lab history anytime
  • Share results securely with anyone
  • Receive 10 reports entered for you
  • Skip the $15/month subscription — no recurring payments ever

$45/ month

Pro Monthly

Designed for professionals managing their clients' lab reports

  • Import lab results from any provider
  • Track lab results for multiple clients
  • Customize reference ranges per client
  • Export lab histories and reports
  • Begin with first report entered by us
  • Cancel or upgrade anytime

About membership

What's included in a Healthmatters membership

microscope icon Import Lab Results from Any Source

person icon See Your Health Timeline

book icon Understand What Your Results Mean

textbook icon

textbook icon Visualize Your Results

folder icon

folder icon

card icon Securely Share With Anyone You Trust

Let Your Lab Results Tell the Full Story

What Healthmatters Members Are Saying

5 stars rating

I have been using Healthmatters.io since 2021. I travel all over the world and use different doctors and health facilities. This site has allowed me to consolidate all my various test results over 14 years in one place. And every doctor that I show this to has been impressed. Because with  any health professional I talk to, I can pull up historical results in seconds. It is invaluable. Even going back to the same doctor, they usually do not have the historical results from their facility in a graph format. That has been very helpful.

Anthony

Unlimited Plan Member since 2021

5 stars rating

What fantastic service and great, easy-to-follow layouts! I love your website; it makes it so helpful to see patterns in my health data. It's truly a pleasure to use. I only wish the NHS was as organized and quick as Healthmatters.io. You've set a new standard for health tracking!

Karin

Advanced Plan Member since 2020

5 stars rating

As a PRO member and medical practitioner, Healthmatters.io has been an invaluable tool for tracking my clients' data. The layout is intuitive, making it easy to monitor trends and spot patterns over time. The ability to customize reports and charts helps me present information clearly to my clients, improving communication and outcomes. It's streamlined my workflow, saving me time and providing insights at a glance. Highly recommended for any practitioner looking for a comprehensive and user-friendly solution to track patient labs!

Paul

Healthmatters Pro Member since 2024

Use promo code to save 10% off any plan.

Frequently asked questions

Healthmatters is a personal health dashboard that helps you organize and understand your lab results. It collects and displays your medical test data from any lab in one secure, easy-to-use platform.

  • Individuals who want to track and understand their health over time.
  • Health professionals, such as doctors, nutritionists, and wellness coaches, need to manage and interpret lab data for their clients.

With a Healthmatters account, you can:

  • Upload lab reports from any lab
  • View your data in interactive graphs, tables, and timelines
  • Track trends and monitor changes over time
  • Customize your reference ranges
  • Export and share your full lab history
  • Access your results anytime, from any device

Professionals can also analyze client data more efficiently and save time managing lab reports.

Healthmatters.io personal account provides in-depth research on 4000+ biomarkers, including information and suggestions for test panels such as, but not limited to:

  • The GI Effects® Comprehensive Stool Profile,
  • GI-MAP,
  • The NutrEval FMV®,
  • The ION Profile,
  • Amino Acids Profile,
  • Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones (DUTCH),
  • Organic Acids Test,
  • Organix Comprehensive Profile,
  • Toxic Metals,
  • Complete Blood Count (CBC),
  • Metabolic panel,
  • Thyroid panel,
  • Lipid Panel,
  • Urinalysis,
  • And many, many more.

You can combine all test reports inside your Healthmatters account and keep them in one place. It gives you an excellent overview of all your health data. Once you retest, you can add new results and compare them.

If you are still determining whether Healthmatters support your lab results, the rule is that if you can test it, you can upload it to Healthmatters.

shield icon

We implement proven measures to keep your data safe.

At HealthMatters, we're committed to maintaining the security and confidentiality of your personal information. We've put industry-leading security standards in place to help protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of the information under our control. We use procedural, physical, and electronic security methods designed to prevent unauthorized people from getting access to this information. Our internal code of conduct adds additional privacy protection. All data is backed up multiple times a day and encrypted using SSL certificates. See our Privacy Policy for more details.

gdpr compliance image hipaa compliance image