Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Brain Pathology logoLink to Brain Pathology
. 2006 Apr 5;11(4):408–413. doi: 10.1111/j.1750-3639.2001.tb00408.x

Prevalence of HSV‐1 LAT in Human Trigeminal, Geniculate, and Vestibular Ganglia and Its Implication for Cranial Nerve Syndromes

Diethilde Theil 1,✉, Viktor Arbusow 1, Tobias Derfuss 2, Michael Strupp 1, Matthias Pfeiffer 3, Andrea Mascolo 4, Thomas Brandt 1
PMCID: PMC8098601  PMID: 11556685

Abstract

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV‐1) enters sensory neurons and can remain latent there until reactivation. During latency restricted HSV‐1 gene expression takes place in the form of latency‐associated transcripts (LAT). LAT has been demonstrated to be important not only for latency but also for reactivation, which may cause cranial nerve disorders.

Tissue sections of the trigeminal ganglia (TG), geniculate ganglia (GG), and the vestibular ganglia (VG) from seven subjects were examined for the presence of LAT using the in situ hybridization technique. LAT was found on both sides in all TG (100%), on both sides of five subjects (70%) in the GG, and in none of the VG. Using a second more sensitive detection method (RT‐PCR), we found LAT in the VG of seven of ten other persons (70%).

This is the first study to demonstrate viral latency in the VG, a finding that supports the hypothesis that vestibular neuritis is caused by HSV‐1 reactivation. The distribution of LAT in the cranial nerve ganglia indicates that primary infection occurs in the TG and GG and subsequently spreads along the faciovestibular anastomosis to the VG.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (126.2 KB).

References

  • 1. Adour KK, Bell DN, Hilsinger RL (1975) Herpes simplex virus in idiopathic facial paralysis (Bell palsy). JAMA 233: 527–530. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 2. Arbusow V, Schulz P, Strupp M, Dietrich M, von Reinhardstoettner A, Rauch E, Brandt T (1999) Distribution of herpes simplex virus type 1 in human geniculate and vestibular ganglia: implications for vestibular neuritis. Ann Neurol 46: 416–419. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 3. Baringer JR, Swoveland P (1973) Recovery of herpessimplex virus from human trigeminal ganglions. N Engl J Med 288: 648–650. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 4. Bastian FO, Rabson AS, Yee CL, Tralka TS (1972) Herpesvirus hominis: isolation from human trigeminal ganglion. Science 178: 306–307. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 5. Bergström B (1973) Morphology of the vestibular nerve. II. The number of myelinated vestibular nerve fibers in man at various ages. Acta Otolaryngol. (Stockh) 76:173–179. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 6. Bourne N, Stanberry LR, Connelly BL, Kurawadwala J, Straus SE, Krause PR (1994) Quantity of latency‐associated transcript produced by herpes simplex virus is not predictive of the frequency of experimental recurrent genital herpes. J Infect Dis 169: 1084–1087. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 7. Chen X, Schmidt MC, Goins WF, Glorioso JC (1995) Two herpes simplex virus type 1 latency‐active promoters differ in their contributions to latency‐associated transcript expression during lytic and latent infections. J Virol 69: 7899–7908. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 8. Cohrs RJ, Randall J, Smith J, Gilden DH, Dabrowski C, van der Keyl H, Tal‐Singer R (2000) Analysis of individual human trigeminal ganglia for latent herpes simplex virus type 1 and varicella‐zoster virus nucleic acids using realtime PCR. J Virol 74: 11646–11471. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 9. Corey L, Spear PG (1986) Infections with herpes simplex viruses (2). N Eng J Med 314: 686–691, 749–757. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 10. Croen DK, Ostrove JM, Dragovic LJ, Smialek JE, Straus SE (1987) Latent herpes simplex virus in human trigeminal ganglia. Detection of an immediate early gene ‘antisense’ transcript by in situ hybridisation. N Engl J Med 317: 1427–1432. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 11. Cunningham ET, DeSouza EB (1994) Localization of type I IL‐1 receptor mRNA in the brain and endocrine tissues using in situ hybridization histochemistry In: Methods in Neuroscience. Neurobiology of Cytokines, DeSouza EB (ed); Part A, pp. 112–127. CRC Press, New York . [Google Scholar]
  • 12. Davis LE (1993) Viruses and vestibular neuritis: review of human and animal studies. Acta Otolaryngo Suppl 503: 70–73. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 13. Ecob‐Prince M, Hassan K (1994) Reactivation of latent herpes simplex virus from explanted dorsal root ganglia. J Gen Virol 75: 2017–2028. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 14. Ecob‐Prince M, Rixon FJ, Preston CM, Hassan K, Kennedy PGE (1993) Reactivation in vivo and in vitro of herpes simplex virus from mouse dorsal root ganglia which contain different levels of latency‐associated transcripts. J Gen Virol 74: 995–1002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 15. Ellison AR, Yang L, Voytek C, Margolis TP (2000) Establishment of latent herpes simplex virus type 1 infection in resistant, sensitive, and immunodeficient mouse strains. Virology 268: 17–28. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 16. Farrell MJ, Dobson AT, Feldman LT (1991) Herpes simplex virus latency‐associated transcript is a stable intron. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 88: 790–794. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 17. Furuta Y, Takasu T, Fukuda S, Ynuyama Y, Sato KC, Nagashima K (1993) Latent herpes simplex virus type 1 in human vestibular ganglia. Acta Otolaryngol Suppl 503: 85–89. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 18. Furuta Y, Takasu T, Sato KC, Fukuda S, Inuyama Y, Nagashima K (1992) Latent herpes simplex virus type 1 in human geniculate ganglia. Acta Neuropathol (Berl) 84: 39–44. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 19. Hirata Y, Gyo K, Yanagihara N (1995) Herpetic vestibular neuritis: an experimental study. Acta Otolaryngol Suppl 519: 93–96. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 20. Kitamura K, Toriyama M (1985) Virus‐like particles in human vestibular ganglion cells. Arch Otorhinolaryngol 241: 303–75. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 21. Lynas C, Cook SD, Laycock KA, Bradfield JW, Maitland NJ (1989) Detection of latent virus mRNA in tissues using the polymerase chain reaction. J Pathol 157: 285–289. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 22. Maggioncalda J, Mehta A, Su YH, Fraser NW, Block TM (1996) Correlation between herpes simplex virus type 1 rate of reactivation from latent infection and the number of infected neurons in trigeminal ganglia. Virology 225: 72–81. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 23. McCarthy A, McMahan L, Schaffer PA (1989) Herpes simplex virus type 1 ICP27 deletion mutants exhibit altered patterns of transcription and are DNA deficient. J Virol 63: 18–27. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 24. McCormick DP (1972) Herpes simplex virus as cause of Bell's palsy. Lancet I: 937–939. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 25. Morgenstein KM, Seung KI (1971) Vestibular neuronitis. Laryngoscope 81: 131–139. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 26. Murakami S, Mizobuchi M, Nakashiro Y, Doi T, Hato N, Yanagihara N (1996) Bell's palsy and herpes simplex virus: identification of viral DNA in endoneurial fluid and muscle. Ann Intern Med 124: 27–30. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 27. Raff T, van der Giet M, Endemann D, Wiederholt T, Paul M (1997) Design and testing of beta‐actin primers for RTPCR that do not co‐amplify processed pseudogenes. Biotechniques 23: 456–460. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 28. Schuknecht HF, Kitamura K (1981) Second Louis H. Clerf Lecture. Vestibular neuritis. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol Suppl 90: 1–19. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 29. Schulz P, Arbusow V, Strupp, Dieterich M, Rauch E, Brandt T (1998) Highly variable distribution of HSV‐1 ‐specific DNA in human geniculate, vestibular, and spiral ganglia. Neurosci Lett 252: 139–142. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 30. Stevens JG, Wagner EK, Devi‐Rao GB, Cook ML, Feldmann LT (1987) RNA complementary to a herpesvirus α gene mRNA is prominent in latently infected neurons. Science 235: 1056–9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 31. Strupp M, Jager L, Muller‐Lisse U, Arbusow V, Reiser M, Brandt T (1998) High resolution Gd‐DTPA MR imaging of the inner ear in 60 patients with idiopathic vestibular neuritis: no evidence for contrast enhancement of the labyrinth or vestibular nerve. J Vestib Res 8: 427–433. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 32. Wagner EK, Devi‐Rao G, Feldman LT, Dobson AT, Zhang YF, Flangan WM, Stevens JG (1988) Physical characterization of the herpes simplex virus latency‐associated transcript in the neurons. J Virol 62: 1194–1202. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 33. Yang L, Voytek C, Margolis TP (2000) Immunohistochemical analysis of primary sensory neurons latently infected with herpes simplex virus type 1. J Virol 74: 209–217. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Brain Pathology are provided here courtesy of Wiley

RESOURCES