ABSTRACT
In recent years, researches constituted to show that the occurrence of central nervous system diseases such as Parkinson′s disease, Alzheimer′s disease and multiple sclerosis may have association with the inflammation of central nervous system. The chemokine CX3CL1 is mainly produced by neurons and acts on the central nervous system. After binding to the receptor CX3CR1, by inhibiting the calcium influx induced by NMDA in neurons, it can promote the activation of protein kinase and activate nuclear transcription factor kappa B, reduce the release of inflammatory factors, and stabilize the status of microglia, thus suppress the inflammatory response of the central nervous system and reduce neuronal death, which play a certain role in neuroprotective effect. Therefore, the interaction between CX3CL1 and CX3CR1 is expected to be a new target in the treatment of central nervous system diseases. In this paper, the structure of CX3CL1 and its receptor CX3CR1, the interaction of signal axis and their research progress on central nervous system diseases are reviewed.
ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the clinical efficacy of intradermal injection of methylene blue for treatment of moderate to severe acute thoracic herpes zoster and prevention of postherpetica neuralgia in elderly patients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Sixty-four elderly patients with herpes zoster were randomized to receive a 10-day course of intradermal injection of methylene blue and lidocaine plus oral valaciclovir (group A, 32 cases) and intradermal injection of lidocaine plus oral valaciclovir (group B).Herpes evaluation index, pain rating index, incidence of postherpetic neuralgia, and comprehensive therapeutic effect were compared between the two groups at 11, 30 and 60 days after the treatment.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The baseline characteristics were comparable between the two groups (all P>0.05). Compared with that in group B, the time for no new blister formation, blister incrustation and decrustation, and pain relief was significantly shortened in group A (P<0.05) with also obviously lower pain intensity after the treatment. The incidence of postherpetic neuralgia was significantly lower in group A than in group B at 30 days (P<0.05), but not at 60 and 90 days after the treatment. The total clinical response rate was 93.8% in group A, much higher than that in group B (62.5%, P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Intradermal injection of methylene blue can effectively shorten the disease course, reduce the pain intensity and prevent the development of postherpetic neuralgia in elderly patients with herpes zoster.</p>