Primary and secondary herpes simplex uveitis in rabbits.

Primary and secondary (recurrent) herpes simplex uveitis were studied in the rabbit eye. Intravitreal injection of live herpes simplex virus (HSV) produced primary uveitis, and reinjection of HSV intravitreally in an eye that had completely recovered from the primary disease produced secondary uveitis. The onset of primary herpes simplex uveitis was gradual, but the secondary disease developed immediately after the intravitreal reinjection. Only live HSV would produce primary uveitis, whereas both inactivated and live HSV could produce secondary uveitis. Infectious HSV could be isolated from the eye with primary uveitis, but not from the eye with secondary uveitis, a failure that appeared to be due in part to the persistence of anti-HSV neutralizing antibody in the eye after the primary uveitis. The results suggest that primary uveitis is caused by infection of the uveal tissue by live HSV, and that secondary uveitis is caused by HSV-induced immunological mechanisms.