Restriction endonuclease cleavage of DNA obtained from herpes simplex isolates of two patients with bilateral herpetic disease.

Restriction enzyme analysis was utilized to investigate HSV isolates from bilateral lesions of skin and/or cornea. In the first case (DM) type 1 HSV was obtained from a lesion on the right eye lid in 1977 and from a recurrence in 1979 consisting of dendritic lesions on the left cornea as well as skin lesions on the right naris. HSV virus was isolated in the second case (BL) from a right corneal lesion in 1979. Ten months later HSV was again isolated from a recurrence on the right cornea and from multiple skin lesions on the left cheek. DNA obtained from all HSV isolates were cleaved with Hpa I, Bgl II, Kpn I, Hind III, and Eco RI. A comparison of DNA cleavage patterns following agarose electrophoresis revealed that the virus isolates from DM were different from those of BL. However, all of the isolates obtained from each patient were identical. Therefore, these type 1 isolates obtained from anatomical sites supplied by contralateral trigeminal nerves were due to reactivation and/or reinfection with endogenous virus rather than exogenous infection.