Involvement of the innate immunity, especially toll-like receptors (TLR) and p-defensins (BD) in the pathogenesis of various ocular disorders has been intensively studied in recent years. However, a role for TLR and BD in keratitis induced by HSV-1 is not fully elucidated. In our study, we examined TLR9 and BD2 expression in HSV-lkeratitis in the murine model and infected children. TLR9 and BD2 mRNA expression was detected by real-time PCR in corneal cells obtained from C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice during 7 days after HSV-1 application on scarified cornea as well as in corneal and conjunctival cells from children with HSV-1 keratitis. We observed elevated frequency of HSV-l-infected mice in both mouse strains, reaching a peak 3 days post infection when 86% C57BL/6 and 50% BALB/c mice were found to be infected. Concurrently, in C57BL/6 mice, we observed a robust decline in TLR9 expression, especially on the 1st and 7th days post topical infection. BALB/c mice revealed a modest reduction in TLR9 expression on the 1st and 7th days post infection. Contrary to TLR9, the expression of murine BD2 (mBD2) was not changed post topical HSV-1 infection in both mouse strains. We also demonstrated a constitutive expression of TLR9 and human BD2 (hBD2) in corneal cells obtained from healthy children with no difference between 2-5 and 6-16 age groups. The expression of TLR9 was found to be more than 30-fold elevated in children with HSV-1 keratitis as compared to healthy individuals, with no difference in hBD2 expression. Our data demonstrate diverse changes in TLR9 and BD2 expression in both murine and children comeal cells suggesting their involvement in HSV-1 keratitis. However, further study is required to elucidate the role of TLR9 and BD2 in the pathogenesis of this disorder.