Intraocular herpes simplex virus injection in neonatal rats induces sympathetic nerve cell destruction: effect of nerve growth factor

The effect of herpes simplex virus (HSV) injection on the sympathetic nerve system of newborn rats was studied at structural, ultrastructural, and immunohistochemical levels. It was found that HSV injected into the anterior eye chamber is retrogradely transported and reaches the nerve cell bodies of the ipsilateral superior cervical ganglion (SCG) after 18-24 hr, causing complete cell destruction within 3-4 days. In subsequent days, nerve cells of the contralateral SCG, spinal sensory ganglia, chromaffin cells and brain cells also become infected and are eventually killed by the virus. Pretreatment with nerve growth factor (NGF) produces an initial protection from viral cell destruction, but does not block the final, lethal effect of the virus. These investigations demonstrate that sympathetic nerve cell destruction can be induced in newborn rodents by HSV, and that NGF treatment renders the cells, for a time-limited period, more resistant to the virus.