Influence of systemic immune and cytokine responses during the acute phase of zoster on the development of postherpetic neuralgia

Postherpetic neuralgia （PHN） is a severe sequela of herpes zoster （HZ）. Until now, only age and pain severity were considered predisposing factors for the development of PHN. We evaluated 49 patients with acute phase HZ, 10 of whom developed PHN （Group A） and 39 of whom did not develop PHN （Group B）...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Zhejiang University. B. Science 2009-08, Vol.10 (8), p.625-630
Main Authors: Zhu, Sheng-mei, Liu, Yong-min, An, Er-dan, Chen, Qing-lian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acute Disease
Age Factors
Aged
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Cytokines - biosynthesis
Drug therapy
Female
Herpes Zoster - immunology
Humans
Male
Medical research
Middle Aged
Neuralgia, Postherpetic - etiology
T-Lymphocyte Subsets - immunology
人的发展
免疫反应
带状疱疹
白细胞介素-6
神经痛
细胞因子
肿瘤坏死因子
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Postherpetic neuralgia （PHN） is a severe sequela of herpes zoster （HZ）. Until now, only age and pain severity were considered predisposing factors for the development of PHN. We evaluated 49 patients with acute phase HZ, 10 of whom developed PHN （Group A） and 39 of whom did not develop PHN （Group B）. Twenty-five healthy volunteers similar in age and gender distribution to the study group were recruited as controls （Group C）. Numbers of serum CD3^＋ （pan-T lymphocytes）, CD4^＋ （helper/inducer）, and CD8^＋ （suppressor/cytotoxic） lymphocytes were decreased significantly in Groups A and B relative to the control group, but there were no statistical differences between Groups A and B. Interleukin （IL）-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor （TNF）-α, IL-8, and IL-10 were significantly elevated in Groups A and B relative to Group C. IL-6 was significantly higher in Group A than in Group B, and was significantly positively correlated with pain severity scored on a visual analog scale. Therefore, we suggest that the inflammatory response, especially that of IL-6, in the acute phase of HZ may be associated with hyperalgesia and the development of PHN.
ISSN:1673-1581
1862-1783
DOI:10.1631/jzus.b0920049