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)

Ocular infection with herpes simplex virus (HSV) results in a blinding immunoinflammatory stromal keratitis (SK) lesion. Early preclinical events include polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) infiltration and neovascularization in the corneal stroma. We demonstrate here that HSV infection of the cornea results in the upregulation of the cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) enzyme. Early after infection, COX-2 was produced from uninfected stromal fibroblasts as an indirect effect of virus infection. Subsequently, COX-2 may also be produced from other inflammatory cells that infiltrate the cornea. The induction of COX-2 is a critical event, since inhibition of COX-2 with a selective inhibitor was shown to reduce corneal angiogenesis and SK severity. The administration of a COX-2 inhibitor resulted in compromised PMN infiltration into the cornea, as well as diminished corneal vascular endothelial growth factor levels, likely accounting for the reduced angiogenic response. COX-2 stimulation by HSV infection represents a critical early event accessible for therapy and the control of SK severity.
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PMID:Role of inflammatory cytokine-induced cyclooxygenase 2 in the ocular immunopathologic disease herpetic stromal keratitis. 1605 51