E. Cassai

Aseptic meningitis in association with herpes progenitalis.

MOST isolates of herpes-simplex virus (HSV) can be segregated into two groups, designated HSV-1 and HSV-2, on the basis of neutralization tests and plaque morphology. HSV-1 strains have usually bee...

Plaque Dissociation of Herpes Simplex Viruses: Biochemical and Biological Characters of the Viral Variants

Polycaryocytogenic (P) and non-polycaryocytogenic, or aggregating (A), stable variants were selected from a herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and from a herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV 2) which had not been deliberately exposed to known mutagenic agents. The P variant of HSV-1 (FP) differed from the A variant (FA) in polypeptides and glycoprotein patterns, but no gross differences were evident between the two variants of HSV-2 (GP and GA). Each P variant proved more specific than each A variant in immune neutralization tests. At high multiplicity, GP produced polycaryocytes but FP did not. Virulence tests in mice showed FP to be much more virulent than FA but GA to be more virulent than GP. Finally, A and P variants of each type could not be differentiated with respect to thermal resistance of virons, capacity to grow at high temperature, and buoyant density of DNA.

[Characterization of a Herpes simplex virus isolated from a lip tumor developing after recurrent herpes (author's transl)].

A spindle-cell carcinoma developed on the lower lip of 53-year-old patient who had suffered from recurrent local herpes. From a tumor biopsy a human herpesvirus 1 (Type 1 Herpes Simplex Virus) was isolated (strain n. 466). Infected cells contain eosinophilic intranuclear inclusions (fig. 3); the agents cpe is abolished by anti-HSV antiserum and by chloroform; the agent produces typical plaques (fig. 4), grows at 38 °C, and its DNA has a density of approximately 1.726 g per cm3, equal to that of DNA of « F » prototype of human herpesvirus 1 (text-fig. 1). However, its immunological structure (text-fig. 2) and its protein electrophoretic pattern (fig. 5) slightly differentiate this virus from homotypic strains including some local isolates. At the time the virus was isolated from the tumor no HSV was recovered from the surrounding skin of the patient. After surgical removal of the tumor, the patient suffered no more of herpetic recurrences. As far as the significance of the isolation is concerned, UV-inactivated strains possess a transforming activity in vitro and human herpesvirus 2 is known to be associated to cervical carcinoma in some human populations, but no direct oncogenicity has been shown in HSV. In our case, HSV may have been implicated through the association of the irritant effect of repeated recurrences and a possible abortive type of infection with cigarette smoking.

An Italian case of nasopharyngeal carcinoma correlated with Epstein-Barr virus specific antigens.

An Italian case of nasopharyngeal carcinoma was studied clinically; the immunologic study showed the correlation with the Epstein-Barr virus specific antigen.