[An experimental study on HSV-1 corneal latency by in situ nucleic acid hybridization]

An experimental study was performed on animal models for evaluation of the possibility of herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1) corneal latency by in situ nucleic acid hybridization. 20 normal New Zealand white (NZW) rabbits were used, and 3 x 10(6) PFU/ml of McKrae strain HSV-1 was inoculated bilaterally into the corneal stroma in 14 rabbit eyes. Of the 28 eyes, 22 developed typical herpes simplex keratitis (HSK). On the postoperative 60th day, 4 corneas with latent infection were transplanted into one unilateral eyes of each 4 non-infected NZW rabbits respectively and removed 2 weeks postoperatively. The corneal buttons were individually detected for the presence of HSV-1 antigen and nucleic acid sequences by using clonal IgG HSV-1 antibody and biotinylated HSV-1 DNA probe respectively. The results showed that the HSV-1 DNA sequences retained only within the corneal stromal layer with negative HSV-1 antigen staining. These results strongly suggest that the cornea be capable of harboring latent HSV-1.