DISEASES CAUSED BY HERPESVIRUSES: MECHANISMS OF DAMAGE, PATHOGENETIC THERAPY AND PREVENTION

Abstract

Herpesviruses (HV) are DNA viruses united in the Herpesviridae family, which includes about 200 species, 8 of which are pathogenic to humans. Viruses are widespread in the human population and infect more than 90% of the world's population. The study of diseases caused by HV is an important scientific and clinical problem due to their specific affinity for cells of the immune system, lifelong persistence in the human body and a wide range of clinical forms of diseases. Molecular genetic analysis of the interaction of different types of HV with the immune system of the mother, fetus, newborn, child and adult explains the variety of disorders and clinical manifestations of the infection. Each of the 8 types of HV has a different affinity for target cells, does not have a cross-immune response, is capable of combined contamination and, possibly, reactivation, the formation of a wide range of somatic, including organ, disorders at different periods of development of a child and an adult. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a significant contributor to the burden of cancer and autoimmune diseases, which poses a major public health threat. These disorders demonstrate molecular possibilities for targeted therapies, antiviral agents, immune and cell therapies. The article represents an up-to-date review on the main immune mechanisms of the interaction of HVs with the body of the mother and the child and new technologies for studying HV-infections.