CULTIVATION AND MULTIPLICATION OF HERPES SIMPLEX VIRUS IN CELL CULTURES OF NERVOUS SYSTEM

The participation of herpes simplex virus (HSV) in certain alterations of the CNS has been partially questioned and frequently discussed. Therefore, the question arose whether HSV can also be cultivated and multiplied in vitro in CNS specific cells, and if so, whether characteristic alterations and structures can be observed by means of light and electron-microscopic examinations. Our data demonstrate that HSV multiplies in all different specific cells originating from plexus chorioideus of rhesus monkeys, from spinal ganglia of rabbit, from human oligodendroglioma, meningeoma as well as from fibrillar and protoplasmatic astrocytoma. Characteristic cytopathic alterations of these specific cells and significant multiplication of the virus in these cells are to be found. Many of the characteristic forms of formation, maturation and release of HSV can be seen by electronmicroscopic examinations. The particular ultrastructural data observed by electron microscopy are described in detail and the resulting possibilities are broadly discussed not only with regard to the biologic particularity of HSV in in vivo infection but also in view of the interpretations, deriving from histochemical and immunohistological data obtained by light microscopy after in vivo infection. © 1969 Springer-Verlag.