Tehran University Medical Journal

Background: The herpes simplex viruses cause a variety of clinical illnesses that are painful and often distressing. To control the infection, the development of an effective vaccine that prevents or reduces the primary and recurrent infections would be of great significance. With considering to immunological changes following an acute endurance exercise, the purpose of this study was to assess adjuvant effects of an acute endurance exercise in first herpes simplex virus 1 vaccine injection and its booster shots on interleukin-10 cytokine and granzyme B levels.
Methods: This experimental study was carried out in Tarbiat Modares University during May to October 2016. 32 BALB/c mice were divided into 4 groups: control, vaccine, vaccine plus an acute exercise in first injection and vaccine plus an acute endurance exercise in first injection and booster shots. Mice without or with access to acute endurance exercise were immunized intramuscularly with inactivated KOS strain of HSV-1. Two weeks after three booster shots of vaccine, interleukin-10 and granzyme B levels were determined in spleen cell culture with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method.
Results: This study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that an acute endurance exercise as an adjuvant in herpes simplex virus 1 vaccine can change interleukin-10 cytokine and granzyme B levels in mouse model. The result of this study showed significant differences between groups in interleukin-10 and granzyme B levels (P=0.001). Increasing in granzyme B levels with concurrent decreases in interleukin-10 levels was observed following using vaccine plus acute exercise in first injection of vaccine and booster shots.
Conclusion: It is suggested that exercise may stimulate parameters related to cellular immunity and hence decrease the risk of infection decreased levels of interleukin-10 in experimental group that had vaccine plus acute exercise in the first injection of vaccine and booster shots as an adjuvant was observed. These results demonstrate alternation of T helper 2 cells function and improve of cell immunity for protection against herpes simplex virus 1 infections.

Background: Herpes simplex virus (HSV) encephalitis is the most common cause of sporadic encephalitis, with significant morbidity and mortality that are effectively reduced by antiviral treatment. Herpes simplex infection in pregnant women rarely results in encephalitis. The most common symptoms of a pregnant woman with herpes simplex infection are colds and skin vesicles. Herpetic encephalitis occurs during pregnancy in the third trimester in 60% of cases and with less prevalence in the second trimester. Among HSVs most, HSV-1 causes encephalitis. Early diagnosis and timely treatment are important as mortality decreases from 70% to 20-30%. This case report, reviews a pregnant woman with a diagnosis of herpes encephalitis due to seizure and consciousness disorder, which was negative in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay and diagnostic studies.
Case Presentation: The patient was a 23-year-old woman with a gestational age of 29 weeks who presented with fever, headache, delirium, and cognitive impairment three days prior to admission following seizure. Early magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed an increase in the cortical signal in the temporal lobe and PCR assay for the detection of herpes virus was negative. Magnetic resonance venography also showed an increase in the left maxillary sinus with differential diagnosis of herpetic encephalitis. Considering the symptoms of the patient with a strong suspicion of herpes simplex encephalitis, the patient was treated with acyclovir, which was associated with improvement of clinical symptoms. Finally, normal delivery was performed after 36 weeks of gestation.
Conclusion: Given that herpes simplex virus encephalitis is a rare and potentially dangerous and complicated disease, it is imperative for a pregnant patient with atypical symptoms to be identified with an appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic measures.