Role of metabolic disorders in the pathogenesis of recurrent genital herpes

Dolnikova O.A., Letyaeva O.I., Ziganshin O.R.

South Ural State Medical University, Chelyabinsk, Russian Federation

The problem of recurrent genital herpes is a complex interdisciplinary problem that unites doctors of many specialties. Despite the fact that researches have studied the causative agent of the disease in advance, they have not achieved long-term control over the recurrent course of herpes infection yet. Numerous studies of the immune status of patients have revealed multidirectional changes in immunological parameters. The researchers found both a decrease and an increase in the number of T- and B-lymphocytes, NK-cells, which, possibly, is a consequence of differences in the technology of immunograms and the concomitant pathology.

Restriction of physical activity, an increase in caloric intake of food and an increase in stress loads led to an increase in the number of patients with abdominal type of obesity, manifested by various metabolic disorders, which lead to dysfunction of neurological, hormonal and metabolic mechanisms. In addition, chronic inflammation of adipose tissue and a change in the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines always accompany abdominal obesity. Activated macrophages of adipose tissue produce the tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a) and interleukin-6, interleukin-1, free fatty acids. Adipokines produced by adipose tissue contribute to the maintenance of a chronic systemic inflammatory process. The polypeptide pro-inflammatory hormone leptin, despite participating in energy metabolism, plays an active role in inflammation, so that it is possible to consider it as a factor in the regulation of immune functions.

Elucidation of the mechanisms of the relation between herpes virus infection and metabolic disorders can be useful for developing new approaches to the treatment of recurrent genital herpes. Studying the characteristics of immunoreactivity taking into account the accompanying pathology might help to develop effective methods and schemes for correcting immune disorders.