Suppression of herpes virus shedding in tears may help evaluate antivirals

The percentage of asymptomatic subjects who shed herpes simplex virus-1 DNA in their tears or saliva was larger than the percentage of subjects with antibodies to HSV, a study found.

Herbert E. Kaufman and colleagues assessed serum samples from 50 people without signs of ocular herpetic disease, testing for HSV immunoglobulin antibodies with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and for HSV-1 by neutralization assay. The shedding of HSV-1 DNA was assessed by polymerase chain reaction tests of tears and saliva twice daily for 30 days.

Of the 50 subjects, 37 were positive for HSV antibodies when tested with ELISA. The percentage of samples with high HSV-1 genome copy numbers was greater in saliva than in tears. Shedding frequency in tears was similar in both genders; men had a higher shedding frequency than women in the saliva samples.

During the course of the 30 day study, 98% of the subjects shed HSV-1 DNA at least once.

The researchers noted that most HSV transmission takes place during asymptomatic shedding, so suppression of shedding may be an efficient way to evaluate antivirals in humans.

The study is published in the January issue of Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science.