title: Herpes simplex type 1 infects and establishes latency in the brain and trigeminal ganglia during primary infection of the lip in cotton rats and mice.
abstract: The majority of the human population has been infected with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). During a typical primary episode, HSV-1 spreads from the oral pharynx to the trigeminal ganglia, where a latent HSV-1 infection is established. Cold sores at the mucocutaneous junction of the lip are the typical manifestation of recurrent HSV-1. We investigated whether HSV-1 also infects the brain during the primary infection. We used HSV-1 infected BALB/c mice and inbred cotton rats as models. While both species were susceptible to HSV-1 infection, the time course of lesion formation and healing in the cotton rat more closely reflected that seen in humans. In both species, HSV-1 replicated in the brainstem and cerebellum, as well as the trigeminal ganglia during a primary infection of the lip. The brain infection was produced by a low inoculation dose, and did not cause observable neurologic signs or mortality. Using PCR and RT-PCR techniques, we demonstrated HSV-1 thymidine kinase in the absence of infectivity in the brains of both species 30-40 days after primary infection.
authors.affiliation: Virion Systems, Inc., Rockville, Maryland 20850-3347, USA.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lewandowski
authors.forename: M N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Zimmerman
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Denk
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Porter
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Prince
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000821:virology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006561:Herpes Simplex / Q000821:virology; D018259:Herpesvirus 1, Human / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008047:Lip Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D051381:Rats; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016205:Sigmodontinae; D012668:Trigeminal Ganglion / Q000821:virology*; D017735:Virus Latency