Abstract: Zhang Xinyue, Zhong Tingting, Zhong Jianqiao, Xu Yang Department of Dermatology, The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou 646000, Sichuan, China （the current affiliation of the first author was Department of Dermatology, University-Town Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 401331, China） Corresponding author: Xu Yang, Email: xxff2007@163.com 【Abstract】 Objective To detect the varicella-zoster virus （VZV） DNA load in vesicle fluid and peripheral blood, as well as plasma levels of S100β protein and neuron-specific enolase （NSE） in patients with herpes zoster before and after treatment, and to explore their correlations. Methods Vesicle fluid samples were collected before treatment, and peripheral blood samples before and after treatment from 50 inpatients with acute herpes zoster in the Department of Dermatology of the Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, and peripheral blood samples were also obtained from 20 healthy controls. Real-time fluorescence-based quantitative PCR （qRT-PCR） was performed to determine the viral load in the vesicle fluid and peripheral blood samples, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） to detect the plasma levels of S100β protein and NSE. Results VZV DNA was present in all the vesicle fluid samples, as well as in peripheral blood samples from 18 patients before treatment and 5 patients after treatment, but not found in any of the healthy controls. Positive correlation was found between the viral load in vesicle fluid and plasma levels of S100β protein and NSE （r = 0.535, 0.430, respectively, both P < 0.05） in the patients with acute herpes zoster. Before treatment, patients with VZV DNA in peripheral blood showed significantly increased plasma levels of S100β protein and NSE compared with those without （both P < 0.05）, and the viral load in peripheral blood was positively correlated with plasma levels of S100β protein and NSE （r = 0.711, 0.645, respectively, both P < 0.05）. Conclusion VZV DNA is present in some patients with herpes zoster, and increased VZV DNA loads in the vesicle fluid and peripheral blood are related to elevated plasma levels of S100β protein and NSE before treatment.