title: Antibody response to the herpes simplex virus type 2 AG-4 antigen in guinea pigs with genital herpes infections.
abstract: Female guinea pigs, inoculated intravaginally with a herpes simplex virus-type 2 (HSV-2) strain M1, developed typical symptoms of a primary and recurrent genital herpes infection. Sera from HSV-2 infected guinea pigs taken during the primary or recurrent stages of the genital infection contained complement (C)-fixing antibody which reacted with an apparent type specificity to an early 4 h HSV-2 infected cell extract (AG-4) when compared to a 4 h HSV-1 infected cell extract. This C-fixing anti-AG-4 activity was shown to be associated with the IgG2 subclass and directed primarily against HSV-2 infected cell polypeptide (ICP)6 and ICP8. Furthermore, C-fixing anti-AG-4 levels remained constant after the primary infection and during recurrences for over 6 months. Thus, while the anti-AG-4 response in guinea pigs was of the IgG type, it varied from that found previously in human genital HSV-2 sufferers which was of the IgM type. Also, while an IgG anti-AG-4 response in human genital HSV-2 sufferers is associated with a reduction in the number of recurrences, this reduction is not apparent in the guinea pig model.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000276:immunology*; D003168:Complement Fixation Tests; D005260:Female; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006558:Herpes Genitalis / Q000276:immunology*; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000032:analysis; D012008:Recurrence; D018139:Simplexvirus / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D007074:Immunoglobulin G