Sensory Nerve Retraction and Sympathetic Nerve Innervation Contribute to Immunopathology of Murine Recurrent Herpes Stromal Keratitis

PURPOSE: Herpes stromal keratitis (HSK) represents a spectrum of pathologies which is caused by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infection and is considered a leading cause of infectious blindness. HSV-1 infects corneal sensory nerves and establishes latency in the trigeminal ganglion (TG). Recently, retraction of sensory nerves and replacement with “unsensing” sympathetic nerves was identified as a critical contributor of HSK in a mouse model where corneal pathology is caused by primary infection. This resulted in the loss of blink reflex, corneal desiccation, and exacerbation of inflammation leading to corneal opacity. Despite this, it was unclear whether inflammation associated with viral reactivation was sufficient to initiate this cascade of events. METHODS: We examined viral reactivation and corneal pathology in a mouse model with recurrent HSK by infecting the cornea with HSV-1 (McKrae) and transferring (intravenous [IV]) human sera to establish primary infection without discernible disease and then exposed the cornea to UV-B light to induce viral reactivation. RESULTS: UV-B light induced viral reactivation from latency in 100% of mice as measured by HSV-1 antigen deposition in the cornea. Further, unlike conventional HSK models, viral reactivation resulted in focal retraction of sensory nerves and corneal opacity. Dependent on CD4(+) T cells, inflammation foci were innervated by sympathetic nerves. CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, our data reveal that sectoral corneal sensory nerve retraction and replacement of sympathetic nerves were involved in the progressive pathology that is dependent on CD4(+) T cells after viral reactivation from HSV-1 latency in the UV-B induced recurrent HSK mouse model.