Skip to main content
PMC home page
The British Journal of Ophthalmology logoLink to The British Journal of Ophthalmology
. 1996 Jul;80(7):654–657. doi: 10.1136/bjo.80.7.654

Detection of herpes simplex virus DNA in donor cornea culture medium by polymerase chain reaction.

D J Morris 1, G M Cleator 1, P E Klapper 1, R J Cooper 1, E O Biney 1, C Dennett 1, B Marcyniuk 1, A B Tullo 1
PMCID: PMC505563  PMID: 8795381

Abstract

AIMS/BACKGROUND: Herpes simplex virus (HSV) may establish latent infection in the cornea and therefore be transmissible by corneal transplantation. Monitoring of donor cornea culture medium was evaluated for HSV infection. METHODS: HSV was sought using virus isolation in cell culture, and its DNA was amplified to detectable levels using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). RESULTS: Virus isolation in cell culture was negative on neat, cell pellet, and cell free supernatant prepared from the spent culture media of 80 corneas. Three cell pellets (3.8%) were positive for HSV DNA. The PCR positive culture negative results might have reflected latent rather than active HSV infection of the cornea. Post transplant follow up of the three recipients of corneas with HSV PCR positive organ culture media revealed no evidence of HSV induced eye disease or primary graft failure. CONCLUSION: Screening of corneal culture medium for HSV by virus culture or for HSV DNA by PCR could not be recommended.

Full text

PDF
654

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bauer H. M., Ting Y., Greer C. E., Chambers J. C., Tashiro C. J., Chimera J., Reingold A., Manos M. M. Genital human papillomavirus infection in female university students as determined by a PCR-based method. JAMA. 1991 Jan 23;265(4):472–477. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Buxton J. N., Seedor J. A., Perry H. D., Eagle R. C., Pecego J. A. Donor failure after corneal transplantation surgery. Cornea. 1988;7(2):89–95. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Cleator G. M., Klapper P. E., Dennett C., Sullivan A. L., Bonshek R. E., Marcyniuk B., Tullo A. B. Corneal donor infection by herpes simplex virus: herpes simplex virus DNA in donor corneas. Cornea. 1994 Jul;13(4):294–304. doi: 10.1097/00003226-199407000-00003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cook S. D., Hill J. H. Herpes simplex virus: molecular biology and the possibility of corneal latency. Surv Ophthalmol. 1991 Sep-Oct;36(2):140–148. doi: 10.1016/0039-6257(91)90127-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Coupes D., Klapper P. E., Cleator G. M., Bailey A. S., Tullo A. B. Herpesvirus simplex in chronic human stromal keratitis. Curr Eye Res. 1986 Oct;5(10):735–738. doi: 10.3109/02713688609000013. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Crouse C. A., Pflugfelder S. C., Pereira I., Cleary T., Rabinowitz S., Atherton S. S. Detection of herpes viral genomes in normal and diseased corneal epithelium. Curr Eye Res. 1990 Jun;9(6):569–581. doi: 10.3109/02713689008999597. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Dennett C., Klapper P. E., Cleator G. M., Lewis A. G. CSF pretreatment and the diagnosis of herpes encephalitis using the polymerase chain reaction. J Virol Methods. 1991 Sep;34(1):101–104. doi: 10.1016/0166-0934(91)90125-j. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Easty D. L., Shimeld C., Claoue C. M., Menage M. Herpes simplex virus isolation in chronic stromal keratitis: human and laboratory studies. Curr Eye Res. 1987 Jan;6(1):69–74. doi: 10.3109/02713688709020071. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Gordon Y. J., Romanowski E., Araullo-Cruz T., McKnight J. L. HSV-1 corneal latency. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1991 Mar;32(3):663–665. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Kaye S. B., Lynas C., Patterson A., Risk J. M., McCarthy K., Hart C. A. Evidence for herpes simplex viral latency in the human cornea. Br J Ophthalmol. 1991 Apr;75(4):195–200. doi: 10.1136/bjo.75.4.195. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Kaye S. B., Madan N., Dowd T. C., Hart C. A., McCarthy K., Patterson A. Ocular shedding of herpes simplex virus. Br J Ophthalmol. 1990 Feb;74(2):114–116. doi: 10.1136/bjo.74.2.114. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Kimpton C. P., Corbitt G., Morris D. J. Comparison of polyethylene glycol precipitation and ultracentrifugation for recovery of cytomegalovirus from urine prior to detection of DNA by dot-blot hybridisation. J Virol Methods. 1990 May;28(2):141–145. doi: 10.1016/0166-0934(90)90028-e. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. McElhinney L. M., Cooper R. J., Morris D. J. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction for human herpesvirus-6, human cytomegalovirus, and human beta-globin DNA. J Virol Methods. 1995 Jun;53(2-3):223–233. doi: 10.1016/0166-0934(95)00019-q. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Mead M. D., Hyman L., Grimson R., Schein O. D. Primary graft failure: a case control investigation of a purported cluster. Cornea. 1994 Jul;13(4):310–316. doi: 10.1097/00003226-199407000-00005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Openshaw H., McNeill J. I., Lin X. H., Niland J., Cantin E. M. Herpes simplex virus DNA in normal corneas: persistence without viral shedding from ganglia. J Med Virol. 1995 May;46(1):75–80. doi: 10.1002/jmv.1890460116. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Ridgway A. E., Marcyniuk B. The UK cornea transplant service and the establishment of the David Lucas Manchester eye bank. Dev Ophthalmol. 1991;22:44–49. doi: 10.1159/000419898. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Shimeld C., Tullo A. B., Easty D. L., Thomsitt J. Isolation of herpes simplex virus from the cornea in chronic stromal keratitis. Br J Ophthalmol. 1982 Oct;66(10):643–647. doi: 10.1136/bjo.66.10.643. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Shimomura Y., Mori Y., Inoue Y., Kiritooshi A., Ohashi Y., Manabe R. Herpes simplex virus latency in human cornea. Jpn J Ophthalmol. 1993;37(3):318–324. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Tullo A. B., Easty D. L., Shimeld C., Stirling P. E., Darville J. M. Isolation of herpes simplex virus from corneal discs of patients with chronic stromal keratitis. Trans Ophthalmol Soc U K. 1985;104(Pt 2):159–165. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The British Journal of Ophthalmology are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES