Hi, Sushi.
I asked Dr. de Meirleir about the effect of GcMAF on NK number and function. He replied that he does not have information on that yet. I'm not sure I understood him exactly, but I think he meant that he has the data but has not analyzed it yet.
In his talk, he offered four possibilities for what could be causing the nagalase elevation in ME/CFS patients: retroviruses, herpes viruses, intestinal bacteria, and HERVs (human endogenous retroviruses)....
He explained that both GcMAF and LPS are able to activate macrophages. However, they do it by different mechanisms. When it is done by LPS, it leads to elevated nitric oxide, interference with MRP2, and loss of control of redox status. I think he said that CCD14 was also elevated in this case. He said that these two processes compete and are mutually exclusive. The affinity for GcMAF is higher, and it does not involve release of IL-1 and TNF-alpha. What he called "bad" activation of macrophages by LPS is inhibited by activation with GcMAF....
There has been a suggestion by others that GcMAF might promote autoimmunity. He has not found this in his cases, but he does exclude patients from this treatment who have elevated TGF-beta, IL-6, or high ANA or thyroid antibodies, to be on the safe side....
The video of the meeting will be posted soon by Peter Cairns, son of "PatientAdvocate", who videoed the meeting, so you will be able to check to see if I got the details right.
Best regards,
Rich