Prevalence of herpes simplex virus type 1 glycoprotein G (gG) and gI genotypes in patients with different herpetic diseases during the last four decades.

The objective of this study was to genotype 375 clinical herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) isolates collected from the German Reference Laboratory of HSV and VZV between 1973 and 2010. The method is based on the amplification and the restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of the glycoprotein G (gG) and gI. 45.1% of isolates were classified as genotype A, 28.5% as B, and 4.3% as C. 22.1% presented different cleavage patterns for gG and gI suggesting intergenic recombinants A/B in 7.7%, A/C in 0.5%, B/A in 9.3%, B/C in 1.9%, C/A in 1.6%, and C/B in 0.5% of isolates. Two isolates from 1982 and 2010 presented atypical gI cleavage pattern consistent with novel intragenic recombination between genotypes A and C. There were no significant differences of the prevalence of genotypes A, B as well as the recombinants A/B, B/A dependent on the age/gender of patients and the time period in which the strains were isolated. Likewise, there were no significant differences in the distribution of the genotypes A and B as etiological agents of eczema herpeticum, herpes labialis, herpes genitalis, and herpetic gingivostomatitis. The number of recombinants was not different significantly in the groups of the distinct herpetic diseases. In conclusion, the study confirms the high prevalence of recombinants in clinical HSV-1 strains. HSV-1 infections result in clinical manifestations which are independent of the gG/gI genotype and recombinants are not associated with special herpetic diseases.