Antibody response to herpes simplex virus type 1 polypeptides and glycoproteins in primary and recurrent infection

Sequential sera from a patient with primary Herpes Simplex Virus type I (HSV-1) encephalitis and a patient with HSV-1 recurrent oral lesions were collected. Sera were analyzed quantitatively by radioimmunoassay and qualitatively by electrophoresis and autoradiography of immune precipitates to determine the sequence of antibody production to specific radiolabeled HSV-1 polypeptide and glycoprotein antigens. The major antibody response in both primary and recurrent sera was against HSV-1 envelope antigens and the major capsid polypeptide. Sequential sera showed a significant correlation between neutralizing antibody titers and quantitative antibody to HSV-1 glycoproteins. Qualitative electrophoretic analysis of primary infection sera showed sequential appearance of antibodies to increasing numbers of HSV-1 polypeptides by the fourteenth day of infection. A corresponding qualitative antibody response to glycoproteins was not seen. Sequential sera obtained before, during, or after a recurrent lip lesion in another patient showed no significant quantitative or qualitative changes in antibodies to either HSV-1 glycoproteins or polypeptides.