Isopentenyl pyrophosphate-reactive Vγ9Vδ2 T helper 1-like cells are the major γδ T cell subset recovered from lesions of patients with genital herpes

Herpes simplex virus (HSV)-specific T cells are essential to control and resolve genital herpes (GH). To investigate the potential involvement of gammadelta T cells in GH, T cells were recovered and expanded, by mitogenic stimulation, to T cell lines from the genital lesions of 17 patients with GH and 5 control subjects who had other diseases. Relatively high numbers of gammadelta T cells-predominantly, Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cells-were detected only in the T cell lines of the patients with GH. Intralesional Vgamma9Vdelta2 T cell clones did not recognize HSV-infected cells, but they showed reactivity to isopentenyl pyrophosphate and Daudi cells. The T cell clones secreted interferon-gamma, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin (IL)-8, macrophage inflammatory protein-1alpha, and RANTES (regulated on activation, normally T cell expressed or secreted), but they secreted no or limited IL-4. The results of the present study suggest the infiltration and putative involvement of isopentenyl pyrophosphate-reactive Vgamma9Vdelta2 T helper 1-like cells in individuals with GH.