HSV-specific ASC residing long-term in the female genital tract, lumbosacral ganglia and adjacent spinal cord are predominantly plasma cells.

<p>Hartley guinea pigs were infected ivag with HSV-2 strain MS. Lymphocytes from the spleen, bone marrow, vagina/cervix, and lumbosacral ganglia and adjacent spinal cord of individual animals were harvested between days 49–70 after infection and stimulated with medium or LPS/CpG and HSV-specific ASC quantified by ELISPOT. Each data point represents results from an individual animal. Results shown include tissues from three experiments for spleen and bone marrow and two experiments for vagina/cervix and spinal cord/ganglia. HSV-specific ASCs from tissues of uninfected animals were always less than five ASC/tissue. (* <i>P</i><0.05; *** <i>P</i><0.0001, Student's <i>t</i> test).