Virus-specific DTH prevents contralateral retinitis following intracameral inoculation of HSV-2.
Following inoculation of HSV-1 (KOS strain) into the anterior chamber of one eye of a BALB/c mouse, the virus travels to the uninoculated contralateral eye and contributes to the devastating retinal necrosis which occurs in this eye 10-12 days p.i. In parallel experiments, HSV-2 (MS strain) was inoculated uniocularly via the anterior chamber route; animals were sacrificed at intervals and their eyes removed for histopathology and virus culture. Histopathological examination revealed that, in contrast to the retinal destruction observed in HSV-1 inoculated animals, the retina of the contralateral eye of HSV-2 injected animals was unaffected. Culture studies demonstrated that, similar to the spread of HSV-1 after anterior chamber inoculation, HSV-2 reached the contralateral eye in two temporally separate waves and also revealed that the amount of virus recovered from the uninoculated eye of HSV-2 infected animals was significantly less than that recovered from the uninoculated contralateral eye of HSV-1 injected mice. Further examination demonstrated that animals inoculated with HSV-2 via the anterior chamber route did not develop the suppression of virus-specific delayed hypersensitivity (DH) which is characteristic of HSV-1 induced anterior chamber associated immune deviation (ACAID). Taken together, the sparing of the contralateral retina and the ability to generate a virus-specific DH response suggest that DH assists in the preservation of the contralateral retina of animals inoculated with HSV-2 via the anterior chamber route by limiting virus replication and the amount of virus which reaches the uninoculated eye.
D000818:Animals; D000867:Anterior Chamber; D005123:Eye / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006968:Hypersensitivity, Delayed / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007267:Injections; D007635:Keratitis, Dendritic / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D012173:Retinitis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D018139:Simplexvirus / Q000276:immunology*; D013045:Species Specificity