title: Topical treatment of cutaneous herpes simplex virus infections.
abstract: Topical antiviral chemotherapy has a number of potential advantages over systemic drug delivery for the treatment of cutaneous herpes simplex virus infections, including convenience; higher target tissue drug levels and greater efficacy; and specific targeting of the drug to the site of infection, with reduced cost and reduced exposure of the remainder of the body to drug side effects. Realization of these possibilities has been slow in part because of the paucity of 'active' topical drug formulations with effective penetration-enhancing agents and a technical barrier-our failure as yet to measure drug levels in the epidermis, which could guide formulation development. Recent success with a topical treatment for herpes simplex labialis should stimulate continued laboratory and clinical research in this field.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City 84132.
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Spruance
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Freeman
mesh_terms: D000287:Administration, Topical; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004817:Epidermis / Q000503:physiopathology; D005544:Forecasting; D006560:Herpes Labialis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D010539:Permeability; D012008:Recurrence; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents