Does herpes simplex virus establish latency in the eye of the mouse?

Abstract

Clinically scarred and neovascularised corneas observed after zosteriform spread of herpes simplex virus (HSV) to the eye of the mouse were found to contain chronic inflammatory cells with a loose retrocorneal membrane. Goblet cells were found in the corneal epithelium. The trigeminal ganglia of such animals were latently infected with HSV. Whereas HSV was not isolated from eye-washings of diseased eyes, it was isolated from some anterior segments after culture in vitro for up to 13 days. When anterior segments were halved sagittally, HSV could not be isolated from the halves assayed immediately, whereas it was isolated from some of the other halves after organ culture. The possibility of ocular latency is discussed.