Recovery of a latent HSV-1 thymidine kinase negative strain following iontophoresis and co-cultivation in the ocularly-infected rabbit model.
Previous studies in the mouse and guinea pig have reported little or no colonization of sensory ganglia by strains of herpes simplex type 1 failing to express the enzyme, thymidine kinase (TK). The current study in the rabbit demonstrated trigeminal ganglionic colonization and reactivation of a latent thymidine kinase negative strain of HSV-1 by two independent methods: iontophoresis-induced ocular shedding and co-cultivation. Treatment with topical steroids during the acute infection did not enhance the latency rate. Following reactivation, back mutation with phenotypic reversion to thymidine kinase positive was demonstrated in a few recovered isolates. The current study also emphasized the importance of species differences to explain differing experimental results in studies of HSV-1 TK negative latency.
D000818:Animals; D005123:Eye / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D007478:Iontophoresis; D007635:Keratitis, Dendritic / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D011239:Prednisolone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011817:Rabbits; D018139:Simplexvirus / Q000201:enzymology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013937:Thymidine Kinase / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D012668:Trigeminal Ganglion / Q000382:microbiology; D014775:Virus Activation
D011239:Prednisolone; D013937:Thymidine Kinase