Effects of immunosuppression on herpes simplex virus growth in lymphocytes of patients with connective tissue diseases.

The growth of herpes simplex virus (HSV) was measured in blood lymphocytes isolated from patients with connective tissue diseases receiving immunosuppressive drugs. Whereas lymphocytes from such patients were frequently nonpermissive for HSV before treatment, they became permissive in most patients after treatment. The exception was the persistence of nonpermissiveness in lymphocytes of treated patients whose disease was associated with malignant disease.