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Updated: Aug 6, 2026

A Primary Neuron Culture System for the Study of Herpes Simplex Virus Latency and Reactivation
Published on: April 2, 2012
Brain irradiation and antioedematous dexamethasone treatment--risk factors for herpes simplex encephalitis?
Abstract:
Herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE) could result from the reactivation of an endogenous latent herpes simplex virus (HSV) in sensory ganglia or in brain parenchyma. Virus replication and a new lytic virus cycle may be triggered by a wide variety of factors. One of these might be irradiation as suggested by experimental evidence obtained in mouse trigeminal ganglia. Here we report the occurrence of HSE in a 52 years old woman two months after brain irradiation (40 Gray in 20 fractions) and dexamethasone administration for a metastatic brain tumor. HSE has already been observed in a clinical context very similar to that reported here, suggesting that brain irradiation together with corticoid therapy may, in some rare patients, favour the occurrence of HSV reactivation and HSE.
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