COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE SENSITIVITY OF MOUSE DORSAL ROOT GANGLION AND CEREBELLUM TO HERPES SIMPLEX VIRUS IN VITRO

Abstract

To study the effect of Herpes simplex virus (HSV) on nervous tissue, we examined (1) the possibility of establishment of latent infection in vitro, (2) the replication of HSV in mouse dorsal root ganglion and cerebellar cultures and (3) the effect of anti-HSV rabbit serum on the maintenance of both cultures. Although both cultures without antibody were finally destroyed after inoculation, replication of HSV in cerebellar cultures was much higher than in the ganglion in both medium and tissue (P<0.005). Infected cultures treated with anti-HSV antibody (CF: x128) could survive longer in nerve cells of ganglion than in those of cerebellum.These results suggesf that the ganglion can resist HSV infection and this makes latent infection possible.