Relationship of the strain and the intraocular amount of herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 in the induction of anterior-chamber-associated immune deviation.

We investigated the induction of anterior-chamber-associated immune deviation (ACAID) by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2). Two strains of HSV-1 (VR-3 and F) and four strains of HSV-2 (UW-268, 186, SL, and MS) were inactivated with ultraviolet light, and the anterior chamber of BALB/c mice was inoculated with a viral strain. Immunization against delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) was done subcutaneously on day 7 after anterior chamber inoculation. On day 10 after DTH immunization, each virus was inoculated into the foot pad. DTH was evaluated by measuring the foot pad thickness at 24 h after the inoculation into the foot pad. DTH was suppressed by anterior chamber inoculation with more than 10(3) plaque-forming units (PFU) of the VR-3, UW-268, 186, and SL strains, and with 10(5) PFU of the F strain, but not by the MS strain. Until now, HSV-2 was believed not to induce ACAID, however, our results indicate that some HSV-2 strains induce ACAID.ACAID induction by HSV-1 and HSV-2 may depend on both the viral strain and the amount of ocular viral antigen.