Immune Control of Herpes Simplex Virus Infections1

The role of cell-mediated protection to herpes simplex infection was studied in vivo and in vitro. Sensitized spleen cells, obtained from syngeneic mice immunized with herpes simplex virus, protected recipient mice against lethal chal lenge with herpes simplex virus. Survival was signifivantly greater in challenged mice that received washed spleen cells from donor animals immunized with herpes simplex than from control donor animals. This increase in survival after challenge was associated with a significant decrease in virus titers in the brains of mice that had received specifically sensitized cells. There was no obvious association between increased survival and the levels of serum antibody and interferon in the challenged animals. In vitro studies demonstrated control of herpes simplex infection in human and murine cell cultures by sensitized spleen cells from specifically immunized mice. Control of infection required intact, immune, non-glass-adhering lymphoid cells.