Time course of cytotoxic T lymphocyte activity after inoculation of herpes simplex virus into the anterior chamber of mice.

The time course of the activity of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) was studied after injecting herpes simplex virus (HSV) into the anterior chamber of C3H/He mice and compared with that following corneal inoculation. CTL activity in cervical lymph nodes was suppressed during the 14 days after the inoculation, while that in the spleen increased 2 days earlier compared with the activity after corneal inoculation. The difference between the peaks of CTL activity after inoculation via each route was not significant. Thus, CTLs from the spleen appear to play a role in the immune response defending mice against intraocular infection by HSV.