The Role of Interleukin (IL)-2 and IL-4 in Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Ocular Replication and Eye Disease

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases 1999-05, Vol.179 (5), p.1086-1093
• Main Authors: Ghiasi, Homayon, Cai, Steve, Slanina, Susan M., Perng, Guey-Chuen, Nesburn, Anthony B., Wechsler, Steven L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analysis of the immune response. Humoral and cellular immunity; Animals; Antibodies, Viral - blood; Biological and medical sciences; Blepharitis; Cytokines; Experimental viral diseases and models; Eye - virology; Eyes; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fundamental immunology; Herpes simplex virus 1; Herpesvirus 1, Human - immunology; Herpesvirus 1, Human - physiology; Human herpesvirus 1; Immunobiology; Infections; Infectious diseases; Interleukin-2 - administration & dosage; Interleukin-2 - immunology; Interleukin-4 - administration & dosage; Interleukin-4 - immunology; Interleukins; Keratitis, Herpetic - immunology; Keratitis, Herpetic - prevention & control; Keratitis, Herpetic - virology; Lymphokines, interleukins ( function, expression); Major Articles; Medical sciences; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Mice, Knockout; Neutralization Tests; Neutralizing antibodies; Recombinant Proteins - administration & dosage; Regulatory factors and their cellular receptors; Vaccination; Viral diseases; Viral Vaccines - administration & dosage; Viral Vaccines - immunology; Virus Replication; Viruses
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1086/314736

To assess the relative effect of interleukin (IL)-2— and IL-4—dependent immune responses on herpes simplex virus (HSV)-1 infection, naive, vaccinated, and mock-vaccinated IL-20/0 and IL-40/0 knockout mice were challenged ocularly with HSV-1. Naive IL-20/0 mice were significantly more susceptible to lethal infection than IL-40/0 or parental BALB/c mice. Vaccinated, IL-20/0, IL-40/0, and BALB/c mice induced similar neutralizing antibody titers and were completely protected against HSV-1—induced death and corneal scarring. Vaccinated and mock-vaccinated IL-20/0 mice had significantly higher HSV-1 titers in their eyes than BALB/c mice, while vaccinated and mock-vaccinated IL-40/0 mice had significantly lower HSV-1 titers in their eyes than BALB/c mice. Recombinant (r) IL-2 treatment of the IL-20/0 mice significantly reduced ocular HSV—1 replications, but rIL-4 treatment of IL-40/0 mice significantly increased ocular HSV-1 replications. Th1 (IL-2) cytokine responses may help protect mice against ocular HSV-1 challenge and reduce ocular HSV-1 replication.