Acyclovir in Oral and Ganglionic Herpes Simplex Virus Infections

Abstract

The local and trigeminal ganglionic therapeutic efficacy of two topical and systemic antiviral drugs was studied in mouse lips inoculated with herpes simplex virus type 1 after thermal injury. Application of topical 3% acyclovir (acycloguanosine) ointment three times daily for four days completely blocked the replication of virus in the lips, and the healing process was greatly accelerated compared with that in placebo-treated infected controls. However, neither the healing process nor the viral replication was influenced by similar therapy with 3% vidarabine ointment. When given systemically for four days, starting one day after inoculation, acyclovir (40–60 mg/kg per day) and vidara-bine (50 mg/kg per day) significantly reduced the clinical manifestations on the lips and viral titers of cultures obtained from the lips. Establishment of viral latency in the trigeminal ganglion was significantly inhibited by systemic acyclovir (60 mg/kg per day), whereas systemic vidarabine (50 mg/kg per day) was ineffective. These data suggest that acyclovir may be one of the most promising antivir,al agents for the management of oral herpes viral infections and trigeminal ganglionic latency of virus as demonstrated in the mouse model.