Relationship Between Serum Vitamin D Levels and Postherpetic Neuralgia.

1. The correlations of serum vitamin D level, serum calcium level and osteoporosis degree with disease severity, treatment response, incidence of Post-Herpes zoster(PHN) and disease prognosis in Herpes zoster(HZ) patients were studied. 2. To investigate the role of inflammation-related factors and immune-related factors in the occurrence and development of HZ mediated by low vitamin D level.

Herpes zoster is a neuropathic disease which induce by the varicella-herpes virus reactivation.and postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is the most common complication. Currently,the mechanism of herpes zoster still unclearly even though there had much study about it .Vitamin D is an essential vitamin for human body, which has the function of maintaining calcium and phosphorus homeostasis and immune regulation. Vitamin D is a natural antiviral substance, and vitamin D deficiency can affect the body's antiviral ability, thereby promoting varicella-zoster virus(VZV) reactivation, and may promote the development of PHN through continuous neuroinflammation. Therefore, vitamin D level may be related to the occurrence and progression of HZ. this study intends to use an observational cohort study design to investigate the correlation of serum vitamin D level and osteoporosis degree with the severity of the herpes zoster disease, Although we plan to further explore the role of inflammatory state in this process.