title: In vitro susceptibility of varicella zoster virus to adenine arabinoside and hypoxanthine arabinoside.
abstract: The in vitro susceptibility of varicella zoster (VZ) isolates to adenine arabinoside (ara-A) and hypoxanthine arabinoside (ara-Hx) was determined in human skin fibroblasts. Using a system in which deamination was inhibited, and using a modified plaque reduction method, the antiviral activities of ara-A and ara-Hx were separated. The plaque inhibitory concentration of ara-A for all VZ isolates tested was 1 to 2 mug/ml and 80 to 100 mug/ml for ara-Hx. A comparison of antiviral activity based upon total plaque suppression gave a rate of 40 to 50:1, in favor of ara-A.
mesh_terms: D046508:Culture Techniques; D003588:Cytopathogenic Effect, Viral; D014645:Herpesvirus 3, Human / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development; D011684:Purine Nucleosides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014740:Vidarabine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010948:Viral Plaque Assay / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D011684:Purine Nucleosides; D014740:Vidarabine