Serologic and genotypic analysis of a series of herpes simplex virus type 1 isolates from two patients with genital herpes.
Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) has been reported increasingly as a cause of genital herpes, although HSV-1 is usually associated with oro-labial herpes. In the present study, serum specimens and materials for viral isolation were obtained serially from two patients with recrudescent HSV-1 genital infections to study serology and molecular epidemiology. Recurrent episodes, during which HSV-1 was isolated, were followed by an increase in the level of anti-HSV-1 antibody, suggesting a booster effect from re-exposure to viral antigens and the possible usefulness of the variation in the level of anti-HSV-1 antibody to diagnose recurrence. While genotypes of HSV-1 isolates obtained from one patient were different from those from the other patient, genotypes of sequential HSV-1 isolates obtained from the same patient were the same, implying that the recrudescent genital lesions of the two patients could be attributed to endogenous recurrence of a latent virus. Sera from one patient neutralized HSV-1 isolates obtained from the other patient as well as HSV-1 isolates obtained from the same patient. An HSV-1 isolate obtained during a later episode in one patient was neutralized by sera taken before/during the later episode of the same patient, as effectively as an HSV-1 isolate obtained during an earlier episode in the same patient; thus, in these two cases, HSV-1 was assumed to have multiplied during recurrence despite the presence of an anti-HSV-1 antibody that could neutralize experimentally HSV-1.
Umene
Kenichi
K
Faculty of Human Environmental Science, Department of Nutrition & Health Science, Fukuoka Woman's University, Fukuoka, Japan. umene@fwu.ac.jp
Kawana
Takashi
T
Fukumaki
Yasuyuki
Y
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001483:Base Sequence; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006558:Herpes Genitalis / Q000821:virology*; D018259:Herpesvirus 1, Human / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology; D012703:Serotyping; D014775:Virus Activation; D017735:Virus Latency
D004279:DNA, Viral