THE QUANTITY OF LATENT VIRAL-DNA CORRELATES WITH THE RELATIVE RATES AT WHICH HERPES-SIMPLEX VIRUS TYPES 1 AND 2 CAUSE RECURRENT GENITAL HERPES OUTBREAKS
Ja. Lekstromhimes et al., THE QUANTITY OF LATENT VIRAL-DNA CORRELATES WITH THE RELATIVE RATES AT WHICH HERPES-SIMPLEX VIRUS TYPES 1 AND 2 CAUSE RECURRENT GENITAL HERPES OUTBREAKS, Journal of virology, 72(4), 1998, pp. 2760-2764
Herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 (HSV-1 and HSV-2) hare evolved spec
ific anatomic tropisms and site-dependent rates of reactivation, To de
termine whether reactivation rates depend on distinct abilities of HSV
-1 and -2 to establish latency and to express latency-associated trans
cripts (LATs), virulent strains of each virus were studied in the guin
ea pig genital model, Following infection with equivalent titers of vi
rus, the quantities of latent HSV-2 genomes and LATs were higher in lu
mbosacral ganglia, and HSV-2 infections recurred more frequently and l
asted longer than HSV-1 infections, In contrast, if the inoculum of HS
V-1 was 10 times that of HSV-2, the quantity of HSV-1 DNA and LATs inc
reased correspondingly and HSV-1 infections were as likely to recur as
those with HSV-2, The quantity of latent virus DNA correlates with an
d may be a major determinant of the site-specific patterns and rates o
f reactivation of HSV-1 and -2.