Penetrating keratoplasty in rabbits with herpetic keratitis treated with poly I:C.

Penetrating keratoplasties were performed in which grafts were exchanged between normal rabbits and rabbits previously infected with Herpes simplex virus (HSV). Clear grafts were obtained when surgery was performed during the latent stage of the disease (3 months after HSV inoculation). Polyinosinic acid: polycytidylic acid (poly I:C) was administered before and after keratoplasty when the rabbits had active herpetic keratitis. Clear grafts were obtained when the rabbits were inoculated with HSV and treated 18 hours later with poly I:C, which was continued until two weeks before keratoplasty. This treated group had a rapid decrease in HSV titer, inhibition of the migration of HSV from the infected cornea to the trigeminal ganglia, and a decrease in antibody titer to HSV in the sera. In rabbits inoculated with HSV, subjected two weeks later to keratoplasty, and then treated with poly I:C, three quarters of the graft rejections were milder than those in the control group.