Abstract
Seroepidemiological evidence has implicated genital infection with HSV-2 as a possible cause of cervical carcinoma in women and we found in a pilot study that prolonged genital application of formalin inactivated HSV-2 induced this lesion in mice. The present study was done to extend these observations and to investigate the oncogenic potential of HSV-1 in this mouse model. HSV-1 and HSV-2 stocks were prepared from infected HEp-2 cell cultures and were inactivated with formalin. Formalinized control fluids were made in the same way from uninfected cultures. Cotton pledgets saturated with inactivated virus or control fluid were placed in the vaginas of CFW Swiss mice 5 times a week. Cervical smears were examined biweekly and the mice were autopsied after 80 weeks of treatment. The results summarized in the table show that prolonged genital contact with inactivated HSV-1 and HSV-2 induces cervical dysplasia and carcinoma in the mouse and support the concept that these viruses are oncogenic in the genital tract.
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Wentz, W., Reagan, J. & Heggie, A. 675 INDCTION OF CERVICAL CARCINOMA IN THE MOUSE BY PROLONGED GENITAL EXPOSURE TO FORMALIN INACTIVATED HERPES SIMPLEX VIRUSES TYPES 1 AND 2 (HSV-1 AND HSV-2). Pediatr Res 12 (Suppl 4), 476 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197804001-00680
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197804001-00680