Department of Pharmacology, Central University of Punjab, Ghudda, Bathinda, India.
Department of Pharmacology, Chitkara College of Pharmacy, Chitkara University, Rajpura, Punjab, India.
Int Immunopharmacol. 2022 Dec;113(Pt A):109382. doi: 10.1016/j.intimp.2022.109382. Epub 2022 Oct 29.
Monkeypox is a zoonotic illness caused by the monkeypox virus (MPXV) that has a similar etiology to smallpox. The first case of monkeypox was reported in Western and Central Africa in 1971, and in 2003, there was an outbreak of monkeypox viruses outside Africa. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), monkeypox is transmitted through direct contact with infected animals or persons exposed to infectious sores, scabs, or body fluids. Also, intimate contact between people during sex, kissing, cuddling, or touching parts of the body can result in the spreading of this disease. The use of the smallpox vaccine against monkeypox has several challenges and hence anti-virals such as cidofovir, brincidofovir, and tecovirimat have been used for the symptomatic relief of patients and reversing the lesion formation on the skin. Despite the recent outbreak of monkeypox most especially in hitherto non-endemic countries, there is still a lack of definitive treatment for monkeypox. In the present review, emphasis was focused on etiopathology, transmission, currently available therapeutic agents, and future targets that could be explored to halt the progression of monkeypox. From our review we can postulate that owing to the lack of a definitive cure to this reemerging disorder, there is a need for general awareness about the transmission as well as to develop appropriate diagnostic procedures, immunizations, and antiviral medication.
猴痘是一种由猴痘病毒（MPXV）引起的人畜共患病，其病因与天花相似。首例猴痘病例于 1971 年在西非和中非报告，2003 年非洲以外地区爆发了猴痘病毒。根据世界卫生组织（WHO）和疾病控制与预防中心（CDC）的说法，猴痘通过直接接触受感染的动物或接触到传染性溃疡、结痂或体液的人传播。此外，人与人之间的亲密接触，如性行为、亲吻、拥抱或触摸身体部位，也会导致这种疾病的传播。使用天花疫苗预防猴痘存在一些挑战，因此已使用西多福韦、溴昔洛韦和特考韦瑞玛等抗病毒药物来缓解患者的症状并逆转皮肤损伤。尽管最近特别是在以前非流行国家爆发了猴痘，但对猴痘仍缺乏明确的治疗方法。在本综述中，重点关注了病因病理学、传播途径、目前可用的治疗药物以及未来可能探索的靶点，以阻止猴痘的进展。从我们的综述中可以推断，由于这种新出现的疾病缺乏明确的治愈方法，因此需要提高人们对传播途径的认识，并开发适当的诊断程序、免疫接种和抗病毒药物。
