Kim Sang Hun
Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Chosun University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea.
Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, School of Medicine, Chosun University, Gwangju, Korea.
Korean J Pain. 2023 Jan 1;36(1):4-10. doi: 10.3344/kjp.22391.
Herpes zoster (HZ) is a common disease in the aging population and immunocompromised individuals, with a lifetime risk of 20%-30% that increases with age. HZ is caused by reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus (VZV), which remains latent in the spinal dorsal root ganglia and cranial sensory ganglia after resolution of the primary VZV infection. The main focus of HZ management is rapid recovery from VZV infection as well as the reduction and prevention of zoster-associated pain (ZAP) and postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). The use of antivirals against VZV is essential in the treatment of HZ. However, limited antivirals are only licensed clinically for the treatment of HZ, including acyclovir, valacyclovir, famciclovir, brivudine, and amenamevir. Fortunately, some new antivirals against different types of have been investigated and suggested as novel drugs against VZV. Therefore, this review focuses on discussing the difference in efficacy and safety in the currently licensed antivirals for the treatment of HZ, the applicability of future novel antivirals against VZV, and the preventive or therapeutic effects of these antivirals on ZAP or PHN.
带状疱疹(HZ)是老年人群和免疫功能低下个体中的常见疾病,终生患病风险为20%-30%,且随年龄增长而增加。HZ由水痘-带状疱疹病毒(VZV)重新激活引起,该病毒在原发性VZV感染消退后潜伏于脊髓背根神经节和颅感觉神经节中。HZ治疗的主要重点是从VZV感染中快速恢复,以及减轻和预防带状疱疹相关性疼痛(ZAP)和带状疱疹后神经痛(PHN)。使用抗VZV的抗病毒药物在HZ治疗中至关重要。然而,临床上仅有有限的抗病毒药物被批准用于治疗HZ,包括阿昔洛韦、伐昔洛韦、泛昔洛韦、溴夫定和阿美替尼。幸运的是,一些针对不同类型的新型抗病毒药物已被研究,并被建议作为抗VZV的新药。因此,本综述重点讨论目前已获批准用于治疗HZ的抗病毒药物在疗效和安全性方面的差异、未来抗VZV新型抗病毒药物的适用性,以及这些抗病毒药物对ZAP或PHN的预防或治疗作用。