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How to measure NK cell function?

Jenny

Senior Member
Messages
1,388
Location
Dorset
My immunologist said he would do a NK cell function test. The following results have come back:


T cell activation marker
CD4+ CD45RA+ CD38+ 15.9 (29-69)
CD8+ DR+/DP+/DQ+ 20.0 (5-20)

NK phenotyping
CD56dim 98.1% (control 92.4%)

I won't be seeing him again until Oct and he hasn't replied to my email asking for an interpretation.

Does anyone know what these results mean, please?

Jenny
 

IreneF

Senior Member
Messages
1,552
Location
San Francisco
Those are not the results for NKC function. Those are different tests. NK phenotyping looks at their appearance, not their activity.

It looks like the result of the first T-cell activation test is below the normal range, while the result for the second is high normal.

You won't be seeing him for five months? Can you find a different doctor?
 

heapsreal

iherb 10% discount code OPA989,
Messages
10,086
Location
australia (brisbane)
Im not 100% sure of his testing methods but dim nk testing in general for cfs is normal, bright nk function which tests low in cfs, this is the recent Bond uni nk testing on cfs which has just been done.

cheers!!!
 

Jenny

Senior Member
Messages
1,388
Location
Dorset
Those are not the results for NKC function. Those are different tests. NK phenotyping looks at their appearance, not their activity.

It looks like the result of the first T-cell activation test is below the normal range, while the result for the second is high normal.

You won't be seeing him for five months? Can you find a different doctor?

Thanks Irene. I understand that the first T cell activation test is below normal, but what does that mean? What are the T cells not doing very well?

New doctor? Sadly, it's taken me 30 years to find one in our National Health Service that will do any more than standard testing.
 

Jenny

Senior Member
Messages
1,388
Location
Dorset
Im not 100% sure of his testing methods but dim nk testing in general for cfs is normal, bright nk function which tests low in cfs, this is the recent Bond uni nk testing on cfs which has just been done.

cheers!!!

Thanks heaps - that's interesting. Any idea why this might be?
 

Kati

Patient in training
Messages
5,497
Canadian labs have no clue what NK cells are. Furthermore if you ask them to do bright NK function test, they will totally freak on ya!

Bright vs dim NK cells are as far as I know research tests.

It would be great to know if NK cell count and function are indeed biomarkers of disease or not, since nothing is totally set in stone. In fact some here have a totally normal NK function- but are sick. Does that mean they have a different illness? Does that mean that NK function is not a biomarker? Who knows?
 

Mij

Messages
2,353
Canadian labs have no clue what NK cells are. Furthermore if you ask them to do bright NK function test, they will totally freak on ya!

Bright vs dim NK cells are as far as I know research tests.

It would be great to know if NK cell count and function are indeed biomarkers of disease or not, since nothing is totally set in stone. In fact some here have a totally normal NK function- but are sick. Does that mean they have a different illness? Does that mean that NK function is not a biomarker? Who knows?

I had the whole imunophenotyping test done, CD4, CD8 etc, are all below normal and ratio increased. My NK cell count is in normal range. The virologist told me that it was a sign of a dysfunctional immune system not a disease. He wasnt' too concerned about it and he sees a lot of CFS patients over the years.
 

heapsreal

iherb 10% discount code OPA989,
Messages
10,086
Location
australia (brisbane)
Canadian labs have no clue what NK cells are. Furthermore if you ask them to do bright NK function test, they will totally freak on ya!

Bright vs dim NK cells are as far as I know research tests.

It would be great to know if NK cell count and function are indeed biomarkers of disease or not, since nothing is totally set in stone. In fact some here have a totally normal NK function- but are sick. Does that mean they have a different illness? Does that mean that NK function is not a biomarker? Who knows?

In australia any sort of nk function test is research only and is my only experience but in america others seem to be able to get nk function tests outside of research setting. it was once only Klimas patients but it seems more are getting this done, dim and bright cells i agree would freak them out, lol.
I agree NK function isnt 100%(what is?) but its the best we have, plus there are other immune tests that could be used, SOC had normal nk function but showed cd8 dysfunction i think from memory. I think any sort of nk or t-cell function abnormality or high or low t-cells counts can be a biomarker of cfs although i think the nk function seems to be the most common found in research studies. I think this is just more evidence for us that we have cfs/me and not something else and maybe need to keep searching for answers.

I had a lymphocyte function test which came back normal, my nk cd56 numbers are normal but my nk function and bright nk cells are low and my T-cells(cd3,4,8) are high. I dont think all of us would have the same profile, plus it may also depend on what infections we have as we all seem to have different types of overlapping infections.

cheers!!!
 

Daffodil

Senior Member
Messages
5,875
you have to get the test where the units are LYTIC UNITS.....its also called the LU30 test
 

IreneF

Senior Member
Messages
1,552
Location
San Francisco
you have to get the test where the units are LYTIC UNITS.....its also called the LU30 test

Yes, that is the test I had done. It uses a technique called flow cytometry and measures the effectiveness of your NKC at killing tumor cells. These cells also go after viruses in the herpes family, which includes not only the HHVs but also EBV and some others. Low NKC function could explain why many of us have high titers of antibodies to those viruses.

The problem is that I don't think there is any treatment for it other than research-based therapies.

Irene
 
Messages
86
Location
northeast
Hi Irene F
Quick thought: my understanding in attempts to "treat" immune dysfunction as measured in part by low NK Cell function (activity?) is using immunomodulators. Klimas/Rey use Imunovir/Inosine often. i think the goal in part is (measured/tracked) by seeing if NK cell function increases (toward what seems to be more the average range in the general population)
 

IreneF

Senior Member
Messages
1,552
Location
San Francisco
Hi Irene F
Quick thought: my understanding in attempts to "treat" immune dysfunction as measured in part by low NK Cell function (activity?) is using immunomodulators. Klimas/Rey use Imunovir/Inosine often. i think the goal in part is (measured/tracked) by seeing if NK cell function increases (toward what seems to be more the average range in the general population)

Right now I'm being treated by Dr. Kogelnik. I think he would like to see NKC function used as a diagnostic test. For me it was the first test that showed immune abnormalities (other than high but variable antibody titers).

I haven't read any papers by Klimas or Rey. I have no idea how NKC fx tracks with symptom severity, or whether it varies over time like antibody production.

Sorry, my mind is going and I need to take a nap.

Irene