It has been proposed that intervertebral disc degeneration might be caused by low-grade infection. The purpose of the present study was to assess the incidence of herpes viruses in intervertebral disc specimens from patients with lumbar disc herniation. A polymerase chain reaction based assay was applied to screen for the DNA of eight different herpes viruses in 16 patients and two controls. DN...

Herpes simplex virus infection of the central nervous system is still a significant cause of morbidity and often mortality. Changes of central nervous system are results of primary infection or activation of latent HSV-1, HSV-2. Neurological deficits often follow encephalitis herpetica. The application of PCR is prompt and specific diagnosis of herpes simplex virus infections of the brain. Adva...

A protocol for testing cerebrospinal fluid specimens using a range of PCR assays for the diagnosis of central nervous system infection was developed and used to test prospectively 383 specimens. PCR assays were used for the detection of adenovirus, Borrelia burgdorferi, enteroviruses, Epstein Barr virus, cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus, human herpes virus type 6, JC virus, Leptospira inte...

Type-specific vaccines containing heat-inactivated herpes simplex hominis virus type 1 or 2 have been developed for the treatment of herpes simplex genitalis. When patients with recurrent herpes genitalis were treated with the type 2 vaccine the clinical course of the disease improved and the eruption-free interval was extended. In severe cases, especially in permanent genital herpes, the concu...

We have reported previously (H. R. Kotilainen, J. P. Brinker, J. L. Avato, and N. M. Gantz, Arch. Intern. Med. 149:2749-2753, 1989) that the quality of nonsterile examination gloves available for clinical use may be extremely variable. In view of the concern over human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis B virus transmission to health care workers, the continuing variability of gloves availabl...

5-Bromodeoxycytidine is phosphorylated to 5-bromodeoxycytidine 5'-monophosphate in extracts of cells infected with herpes simplex virus but not in extracts of uninfected cells. The conversion of 5-bromodeoxycytidine to nucleotides and its utilization for DNA synthesis in uninfected cells occurs by deamination of 5-bromodeoxycytidine to 5-bromodeoxyuridine followed by phosphorylation of 5-bromod...

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit for herpes simplex virus developed by Ortho Diagnostic Systems, Inc., was evaluated. In phase I experiments, 263 clinical specimens from genital lesions were extracted into serum-free medium and then tested by ELISA for herpes simplex virus antigen. The results were compared with those obtained by conventional viral culture. Of 83 specimens, 65 w...

INTRODUCTION Herpes simplex virus type 1 encephalitis presents acutely in patients who are immunocompetent. We report what we believe to be the first published case of a subacute course of herpes simplex virus type 1 encephalitis in a patient with asymptomatic chronic lymphocytic leukemia who subsequently developed multiple sclerosis. CASE PRESENTATION A 49-year-old Caucasian woman with a his...