[Herpes simplex virus latency in the cornea]

We tried to identify herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) latency in the cornea obtained at the time of penetrating keratoplasty from patients with herpetic stromal keratitis in the non-active (subsided) stage. The subject consisted of 8 patients (3 males and 5 females; average age 42.3 years) who were diagnosed as having herpetic stromal keratitis and underwent penetrating keratoplasty during a period without active lesions (subsided stage) between August, 1984 and July, 1988. No infective virus was detected in the centrifugation supernatant following each corneal homogenization. Latent virus was detected from the culture supernatant of sections of the corneas in 4 of the 8 patients. Although the ganglion trigger theory of Hill et al. has been conventionally supported as the mechanism(s) of herpetic keratitis recurrence, our results suggest that HSV-1 proliferation from latency in the cornea (peripheral tissue) might stimulate the ganglion (ganglion and skin trigger theory). The present study is the first to demonstrate HSV-1 latency in the cornea.