Herpes DNA detected, quantified using PCR assay in keratitis

DNA testing can be used to detect and quantify the amount of virus present in the tear film of patients with herpetic keratitis, researchers have found.

Tatsunori Deai, MD, and colleagues at the Kobe Institute of Health in Japan reported on their use of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay to quantify herpes simplex virus DNA in the tear films of two patients. The patients had developed herpetic epithelial keratitis (HEK) during treatment with latanoprost and a beta-blocker.

In one case, a 77-year-old woman had been treated with latanoprost and timolol for 11 months for bilateral open-angle glaucoma. She developed HEK in the right eye, followed by HEK in the left 1 month later. Acyclovir resolved the HEK, which recurred in the right eye 10 months later. In a second case, a 45-year-old man had been treated with latanoprost for 2 years for bilateral normal tension glaucoma. After concurrent treatment with nipradilol for 5 months, he developed typical dendritic keratitis in the left eye.

The amount of herpes simplex virus DNA identified by the PCR assay in the patients’ tear films paralleled the activity of the herpetic corneal lesions, the authors reported.

Their report is published in the March issue of Cornea.