Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0022568 (keratitis)
 5,133 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Pretreatment of human fibroblast cultures with human leukocyte interferon (HIF, 1,000 IU/ml) resulted in a 24-h delay of virus replication after infection with vaccinia virus and herpes simplex virus type 1 and type 2. Additional HIF treatment 24 h after infection effectively lowered the maximum yield of viral infectivity. Equal results were obtained in simian cells with 3,000 IU of HIF per ml. The spread of two cell-bound herpesviruses, varicella zoster virus and Medical Lake macaque herpesvirus, was inhibited by 2,000 IU of HIF per ml in human fibroblasts and Vero cells, respectively. Varicella zoster virus infectivity was notably reduced by HIF, whereas the latter system showed a low sensitivity. To study the effect of HIF in the infected cornea, keratitis was induced experimentally in both eyes of 12 rhesus monkeys and 12 African green monkeys by inoculation with vaccinia virus and herpes simplex virus, respectively. In each monkey one eye served as a control for the full cycle of disease. In the other eye HIF treatment was initiated prophylactically 15 h before or simultaneously with the challenge virus infection or 6 to 20 h postinfectionally or therapeutically after onset of the disease, and the treatment was continued for 2 to 7 days. Prophylactic and simultaneous administration equally resulted in inhibition of both vaccinia and herpes keratitis. Postinfectional and therapeutic administration of interferon moderated the course of keratitis slightly and shortened the period of virus shedding.
 ...
PMID:Effect of human leukocyte interferon on vaccinia-and herpes virus-infected cell cultures and monkey corneas. 16 24

Herpes zoster ophthalmicus is not an uncommon disease and is more prevalent among debilitated and seriously ill patients. It is caused by the same virus causing varicella. The exact trigger mechanism is unknown, as well as much of the pathogenesis. The disease is more uncommon among the elderly and usually runs a benign course. Approximately 50% of the patients develop ocular complications ,the most frequent of these being keratitis, iritis, secondary glaucoma and extraocular muscle involvement. The most striking pathologic features are the lymphocytic infiltration of the long ciliary nerves and the vasculitis of the vessels accompanying them. The most controversial aspect of the disease is that of treatment. Almost every therapeutic regimen has been attempted in a disease whose natural course is self-limited. The future will add more to our knowledge of the pathogenesis of the disease and shed more light on the efficacy of various treatments.
 ...
PMID:Herpes zoster ophthalmicus. 19 72

Varicella disciform stromal keratitis is rare. It occurs several weeks or months after the skin rash. We report 4 cases in children, two of whom developed one or more recurrent episodes. Treatment based on local steroids was long and difficult to dose. One case treated with oral aciclovir did not show a better clinical course than the other patients.
 ...
PMID:[Post-varicella disciform keratitis]. 129 71

Although varicella is one of the most common infectious diseases in the United States, systemic and ocular complications are rare. We report a patient who developed disciform edema followed by microdendritic keratitis 1 and 2 months, respectively, after resolution of the acute phase of varicella. Cultures were negative, but serologic analysis found positive antibodies against varicella zoster virus and negative antibodies against herpes simplex virus. Based on this case and on a review of the literature, we believe that this delayed onset of keratitis represents a distinct category of varicella corneal complications.
 ...
PMID:Delayed onset of varicella keratitis. 133 Apr 39

We treated five patients, aged 26, 4, 6, 13, and 7 years, who developed disciform stromal keratitis one, four, four, eight, and ten weeks, respectively, after the onset of the acute vesicular exanthema. Serologic testing confirmed recent varicella and excluded other infectious causes in two cases. After initial improvement with a topical corticosteroid, three patients developed recurrent corneal inflammation resembling zoster keratitis. These cases and previous reports indicate that varicella-zoster virus is a cause of disciform stromal keratitis that may occur and recur several weeks or months after the primary skin rash has resolved.
 ...
PMID:Varicella disciform stromal keratitis. 202 Nov 65

The development of new antiviral agents has gained increasing momentum. It has kept pace with the identification of specific sites ("targets") in the virus replicative cycle at which potential antiviral drug can interact. The current armamentarium of available antiviral drugs consists of amantadine and rimantadine (against influenza A), ribavirin (against respiratory syncytial virus infection), idoxuridine and trifluridine (against herpetic keratitis), vidarabine and acyclovir (against herpes simplex virus infections), ganciclovir (against cytomegalovirus infections) and Retrovir (against AIDS). Various new compounds have been found which selectively inhibit those viruses [i.e. adenovirus, varicella-zoster virus, thymidine kinase-deficient (TK-) herpes simplex virus strains, and rhinoviruses] that are insensitive or poorly sensitive to the presently available antivirals. Several new compounds have also proven active against human immunodeficiency virus, the causative agent of AIDS; and, as a spin-off of the search for anti-AIDS drugs, new agents may also be expected that are effective against other retrovirus infections as well as hepadnavirus (i.e. hepatitis B virus) infections.
 ...
PMID:New acquisitions in the chemotherapy of viral infections. 216 18

Rapid diagnosis of viral diseases of the outer eye was attempted by means of immunohistochemical methods. Specimens were obtained with a nitrocellulose membrane, used as a blotter of immunoblotting test. An impression of the corneal or conjunctival surface was obtained by anesthetizing the eye and lightly pressing the membrane against the tissues. In some cases, scraping materials were taken on a slide glass. Viral antigens in the specimens were detected by peroxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP) method, ABC system (Vectastain), or immunofluorescence. Four common diseases were studied. Dendritic corneal lesions caused by herpes simplex virus (HSV) were impressed on the membrane, and exhibited exact duplicates of lesions which were composed of PAP-positive epithelial cells. Under a high magnification, pathologic changes such as margination of chromatin, intranuclear inclusion bodies, and multinucleated giant cells were observed. Of 27 cases of epithelial herpetic keratitis, 25 showed positive results. The impression can permit examination of a minute lesion, therefore, is superior to scraping. Dendritic lesions caused by varicella-zoster virus (VZV) have a characteristic morphology different from those of HSV. Impressions showed the virus antigen, when treated with fluorescein-labeled anti-VZV monoclonal antibody. Appearance of such a dendrite in disorders of unknown cause indicates the etiology. Conjunctival impressions of adenovirus (Adv) conjunctivitis examined by the PAP method revealed Adv-antigen containing cells. Of 64 cases analyzed, 24 PAP-positive cases were compared with the 35 culture-proven cases. The sensitivity of PAP method was 69%, and the specificity was 97%. The detection rate varied according to serotype, and was especially low (33%) in type 3. Guinea pig antisera with high titers against enterovirus type 70 (EV70) and a variant of coxsackievirus A type 24 (CA24v), the causative viruses of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis (AHC), were obtained. Using these sera as the primary antibody, the antigen of each virus was localized in the cytoplasm of infected HeLa cells by either ABC, or immunofluorescence. Conjunctival cells from patients with EV70 AHC were antigen-positive for 3 days after the onset of disease. Though epidemics of CA24v AHC have only been experienced in Okinawa, sporadic cases have been observed in other districts of Japan.
 ...
PMID:[Viral diseases of the outer eye--rapid diagnosis by immunohistochemistry]. 227 34

We report a patient with pathologic evidence of anterograde spread of varicella zoster virus (VZV) through the visual system. A 29-year-old homosexual man developed the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) 2 months before the onset of left herpes zoster ophthalmicus. During the next 11 months, the zoster infection progressed to involve the left eye, with resultant keratitis, iritis, retinitis, and eventual blindness. Later, the patient developed bilateral blindness, left hemiparesis, and fatal pneumonia. At autopsy, the brain revealed destruction of the visual system and adjacent structures, with sparing of the remainder of the brain. Glial cells near the areas of necrosis showed Cowdry type A intranuclear inclusions. In situ hybridization with probes to VZV nucleic acid sequences were positive in the necrotic brain and retinal areas. Hybridization with probes to cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus type II, human immunodeficiency virus, and Epstein-Barr virus were negative. Electron microscopy revealed characteristic herpes group nucleocapsids. This case provides insight into the mechanisms of virus dissemination and the production of encephalitis.
 ...
PMID:Transsynaptic spread of varicella zoster virus through the visual system: a mechanism of viral dissemination in the central nervous system. 253 32

Corneal intrastromal inoculation of guinea pigs with approximately 10(4) plaque-forming units of live, adapted varicella-zoster virus (VZV) resulted in reproducible, acute, superficial corneal disease in all animals. The culture-positive VZV ocular infection progressed to involve 30% to 40% of the corneal surface in a diffuse punctate keratitis and 10% to 15% of this surface with microdendrites, characteristic of VZV-induced ocular disease. Retrograde dissemination of VZV to the trigeminal ganglia, midbrain, cerebellum, and superior cervical ganglia was demonstrated by whole-cell coculture VZV recovery. Central nervous system VZV dissemination, manifested by transient neurologic symptoms and pneumonitis, was evident in 60% of the animals. Varicella-zoster virus spread to the trigeminal ganglion during acute and early-latent infection was evident by electron microscopy.
 ...
PMID:Ocular varicella-zoster virus infection in the guinea pig. A new in vivo model. 254 23

Acyclovir (aciclovir) is a nucleoside antiviral drug with antiviral activity in vitro against members of the herpes group of DNA viruses. As an established treatment of herpes simplex infection, intravenous, oral and to a lesser extent topical formulations of acyclovir provide significant therapeutic benefit in genital herpes simplex and recurrent orofacial herpes simplex. The effect of acyclovir therapy is maximised by early initiation of treatment, especially in non-primary infection which tends to have a less protracted course than the primary episode. Long term prophylactic oral acyclovir, in patients with frequent episodes of genital herpes simplex, totally suppresses recurrences in the majority of subjects; as with other infections responding to acyclovir, viral latency is not eradicated and pretreatment frequencies of recurrence return after discontinuation of treatment. Caution should accompany the prophylactic use of acyclovir in the general population, due to the theoretical risk of the emergence of viral strains resistant to acyclovir and other agents whose mechanism of action is dependent on viral thymidine kinase. Intravenous acyclovir is the treatment of choice in biopsy-proven herpes simplex encephalitis in adults, and has also been successful in the treatment of disseminated herpes simplex in pregnancy and herpes neonatorium. Intravenous and oral acyclovir protect against dissemination and progression of varicella zoster virus infection, but do not protect against post-herpetic neuralgia. In immunocompromised patients, intravenous, oral and topical acyclovir shorten the clinical course of herpes simplex infections while prophylaxis with oral or intravenous dosage forms suppresses reactivation of infection during the period of drug administration. Ophthalmic application of 3% acyclovir ointment rapidly heals herpetic dendritic corneal ulcers and superficial herpetic keratitis. Thus, despite an inability to eradicate latent virus, acyclovir administered in therapeutic or prophylactic fashion is now the standard antiviral therapy in several manifestations of herpes simplex virus infection, and indeed represents a major advance in this regard. With the exception of varicella zoster virus infections, early optimism concerning the use of the drug in diseases due to other herpes viruses has generally not been supported in clinical investigations.
 ...
PMID:Acyclovir. An updated review of its antiviral activity, pharmacokinetic properties and therapeutic efficacy. 265 90


1 2 3 4 Next >>