OBJECTIVE Varicella zoster virus (VZV) is an under-recognized yet treatable cause of stroke. No animal model exists for stroke caused by VZV infection of cerebral arteries. Thus, we analyzed cerebral and temporal arteries from 3 patients with VZV vasculopathy to identify features that will help in diagnosis and lead to a better understanding of VZV-induced vascular remodeling. METHODS Normal ...

BACKGROUND Varicella zoster virus (VZV) establishes latency in dorsal root, cranial nerve, and enteric ganglia and can reactivate to cause zoster. Serious gastrointestinal dysfunction can result from VZV reactivation in enteric neurons (enteric zoster), but an absence of rash makes diagnosis difficult. We thus determined whether detecting VZV DNA in saliva facilitates identification of enteric ...

To determine the factors associated with an increased risk of developing varicella-zoster virus (VZV) pneumonia during pregnancy, a case-control analysis was done in which 18 pregnant women with VZV pneumonia were compared with 72 matched control subjects. VZV infection was identified clinically, and VZV pneumonia was diagnosed by dyspnea and findings on chest radiographs. Of 347 pregnant women...

The pattern recognition receptor Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) has been implicated in the response to several human viruses, including herpes simplex viruses (types 1 and 2) and cytomegalovirus. We demonstrated that varicella-zoster virus (VZV) activates inflammatory cytokine responses via TLR2. VZV specifically induced interleukin-6 (IL-6) in human monocytes via TLR2-dependent activation of NF-k...

A new method was developed to identify and differentiate varicella-zoster virus (VZV) wild-type strains from the attenuated varicella Oka vaccine strain. The PCR technique was used to amplify a VZV open reading frame (ORF) 62 region. A single specific amplicon of 268 bp was obtained from 71 VZV clinical isolates and several laboratory strains. Subsequent digestion of the VZV ORF 62 amplicons wi...

The varicella-zoster virus (VZV) glycoprotein B (gB) is a major viral antigen which elicits immunity and neutralizing antibodies. In this study, the genomic map position and DNA sequence of a simian varicella virus (SVV) homologue of the VZV gB gene was identified and the transcript analysed. A 32P-labelled VZV gB DNA probe hybridized to a subclone of the SVV BamHI B restriction endonuclease fr...

To efficiently generate varicella-zoster virus (VZV) mutants, we inserted a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) vector in the pOka genome. We showed that the recombinant VZV (VZV(BAC)) strain was produced efficiently from the BAC DNA and behaved indistinguishably from wild-type virus. Moreover, VZV's cell-associated nature makes characterizing VZV mutant growth kinetics difficult, especially ...

CMV and varicella zoster virus (VZV) are significant causes of morbidity and mortality following umbilical cord blood transplantation (UCBT). However, the kinetics of reconstitution and protective potential of antiviral cell-mediated immune responses following UCBT remain poorly characterized. In this study, the reconstitution of CMV- and VZV-specific T cell responses was assessed using IFN-γ E...

Varicella zoster virus (VZV) is the etiological agent of shingles, a painful skin rash that affects a significant proportion of the elderly population. In the present study, we used two aging cell models, Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) fibroblasts and stress or replicative senescence-induced normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDFs), to investigate age-associated susceptibility to VZ...

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infection occurs primarily as chickenpox or herpes zoster. The VZV infection is generally considered self-limiting, with little associated morbidity and mortality. Fatal infections due to VZV were reported in the latter years of the 19th century and early in the 20th century. It was not until 1942 that VZV pneumonitis was recognized as a clinical entity with potenti...