Human ecto- and endocervical epithelial cells as targets for herpes simplex type two infection in vitro

An in vitro method was used to compare the herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV2) susceptibility of human ecto- and endocervical epithelial cells as well as the induced cellular alterations. HSV2 caused a productive infection and morphological alterations both in ecto- and endocervical epithelial cells, but the cytopathogenicity, virus production and development of HSV2 antigens showed a greater sensitivity of ectocervical cells to HSV2 infection. The cytopathogenicity and production of infectious virus did not depend on the antibody pattern of the target cell donor patients. Basically similar morphological alterations were seen in ecto- and endocervical cultures and the various morphological types of altered cells are described.