Apfel S C, Kessler J A
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Hospital, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.
Baillieres Clin Neurol. 1995 Nov;4(3):593-606.
Neurotrophic factors are proteins that promote the survival and differentiation of specific populations of neurones. With the successful cloning and large-scale production of many different neurotrophic factors, it has become practical to consider their application in the treatment of neurological disease. Several groups of neurotrophic factors hold particular promise for the therapy of peripheral nervous system disease in the near future. These include the neurotrophin gene family, cytokines such as CNTF and the IGF family. Evidence is accumulating that an abnormal availability of some of these factors may contribute towards the pathophysiology of some types of neuropathy, most notably diabetic neuropathy. Pre-clinical studies in animal models have demonstrated the likely efficacy of factors such as NGF for small-fibre sensory neuropathy, BDNF, CNTF and IGF-I for motor neurone disease, and NT-3 for large-fibre neuropathy. Clinical trials of several growth factors are currently underway for the treatment of peripheral nerve disease, and other clinical trials are currently being planned.
神经营养因子是一类能促进特定神经元群体存活和分化的蛋白质。随着多种不同神经营养因子的成功克隆和大规模生产，考虑将其应用于神经系统疾病的治疗已成为现实。在不久的将来，有几类神经营养因子在治疗周围神经系统疾病方面具有特别的前景。这些包括神经营养素基因家族、细胞因子如睫状神经营养因子（CNTF）以及胰岛素样生长因子（IGF）家族。越来越多的证据表明，其中一些因子的异常供应可能与某些类型的神经病变的病理生理学有关，最显著的是糖尿病性神经病变。在动物模型中的临床前研究已证明，诸如神经生长因子（NGF）对小纤维感觉神经病变、脑源性神经营养因子（BDNF）、睫状神经营养因子（CNTF）和胰岛素样生长因子 - I（IGF - I）对运动神经元疾病、神经营养因子 - 3（NT - 3）对大纤维神经病变可能有效。目前正在进行多项生长因子治疗周围神经疾病的临床试验，并且正在计划开展其他临床试验。
