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

Reactivation of herpes simplex virus (HSV) is a leading cause of fatal encephalitis in the USA and recurrent herpetic keratitis is a major infectious cause of blindness. There is no effective vaccine and no cure for HSV latency. While current antiviral drugs reduce viral replication, none prevent the initiation of reactivation in the nervous system and, thus, chronic inflammatory damage proceeds. The discovery that HSV VP16 is necessary for the exit from latency represents the first potential target for preventing the chronic inflammatory insult associated with HSV reactivation. Blocking VP16 transactivation would reduce the spread of the virus in the population and, importantly, presumably reduce or prevent the pathological long term chronic inflammation in the nervous system.
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PMID:Therapeutic implications of new insights into the critical role of VP16 in initiating the earliest stages of HSV reactivation from latency. 2142 58

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a multifunctional cytokine that affects a variety of cells in the body such as osteoclasts, hepatocytes, endothelial cells, epithelial cells, white and red blood cells and etc. Elevated levels of IL-6 have been detected in many ocular diseases. Studies show that IL-6 has a major role in the pathology of glaucoma, CRVO, macular edema, ocular neovascularization, posterior capsule opacity formation, keratitis, dry eye disease, allergic eye disease, ocular autoimmune disease, corneal chemical burn, ocular inflammation and so on. IL-6 does its effects through the classic or trans-signal pathways in cells. Blocking of IL-6 signal pathways via Tocilizumab or other chemicals and therapeutics will help to overcome complications related to ocular diseases.
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PMID:Interleukin-6 participation in pathology of ocular diseases. 2862 94