PCR detection of thymidine kinase gen of latent herpes simplex Virus type 1 in mice trigeminal ganglia.

Herpes simplex virus type 1 establishes a latent infection in the peripheral nervous system following primary infection. during latent infection, virus genome exhibit limited transcription , with the hsvlats consistently detected in latency infected ganaglia. following ocular infection viral latency develops in the trigeminal ganglia. in this study pcr has been used for detection of hsv-1 nucliec acid. balb/c mice were inoculated with hsv-1 and infected mice ganglia were applied to detect hsv-1 tk gene. amplification of tk fragment in mice ganglia was considered as an indicator of viral latency. the results were suggested that tk pcr can be used as a reliable diagnostic tool and it is a specific and highly sensitive method for the detection of hsv genome in trigeminal ganglia.