Linked Life Data

9818935

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/9818935

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
5
pubmed:dateCreated
1998-12-2
pubmed:abstractText
Shingles can cause chronic neuropathic pain (postherpetic neuralgia) long after skin lesions heal. To investigate its causes, we quantitated immunolabeled sensory neurites in skin biopsies from 18 subjects with and 16 subjects without postherpetic neuralgia after unilateral shingles. Subjects rated the intensity of their pain. Punch skin biopsies were evaluated from the site of maximum pain or shingles involvement, the homologous contralateral location, and a site on the back, distant from shingles involvement. Sections were immunostained with anti-PGP9.5 antibody, a pan-axonal marker, and the density of epidermal and dermal neurites determined. The group with postherpetic neuralgia had a mean density of 339 +/- 97 neurites/mm2 in shingles-affected epidermis compared with a density of 1,661 +/- 262 neurites/mm2 for subjects without pain. Neurite loss was more severe in epidermis than dermis. Unexpectedly, the group with pain had also lost half of the neurites in contralateral epidermis. Contralateral damage occurred despite the lack of contralateral shingles eruptions or pain, correlated with the presence and severity of ongoing pain at the shingles site, and did not extend to the distant site. Thus, the pathophysiology of postherpetic neuralgia pain may involve a new bilateral mechanism.
pubmed:grant
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Nov
pubmed:issn
0364-5134
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
44
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
789-95
pubmed:dateRevised
2007-11-14
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1998
pubmed:articleTitle
Unilateral postherpetic neuralgia is associated with bilateral sensory neuron damage.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Neurosurgery, the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, USA.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Comparative Study, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S., Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't