Sequential changes in T and B lymphocyte responses to Herpes simplex virus in man

Lymphocytes of seven patients with primary herpetic infection, twenty-three patients with recurrent herpes labialis and of nineteen control subjects were separated into T and B enriched cells by the use of nylon wool columns. In the absence of a herpetic infection the thymidine incorporation and macrophage migration inhibition responses to herpes simplex virus (HSV), Candida albicans and PPD, and the thymidine incorporation induced by PHA were functions of T cells. When a herpetic infection was present, the unfractionated lymphocyte response to HSV was increased, as measured by thymidine incorporation, but the T cell response was unchanged. However, T cells did show an increased response to HSV when prepared by elimination of cells forming rosettes with zymosan-complement. T cells of some patients were stimulated by contact with zymosan, and this correlated with the response to C. albicans. It is suggested that lymphocyte responses to HSV in man are mediated by T cells, but that these cells are specifically retained by nylon wool columns at the time of a herpetic infection. This may be associated with acquisition of an Fc receptor by the sensitized T cells.