title: 2'-Fluoro-5-iodoarabinosylcytosine, a new potent antiviral agent: efficacy in immunosuppressed individuals with herpes zoster.
abstract: 2'-Fluoro-5-iodoarabinosylcytosine (FIAC) has potent antiviral activity in vivo against herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 and cytomegalovirus. For examination of the clinical efficacy of FIAC, a randomized, double-blind study of FIAC versus adenine arabinoside (ara-A) was conducted in 34 immunosuppressed individuals with varicella-zoster virus infections. The median time to the appearance of the last new lesion was shorter in patients who received FIAC relative to those who received ara-A (two versus five days, respectively; P less than .001) FIAC also reduced pain and accelerated initial crusting within 72 hr in a significantly greater proportion of patients when compared with ara-A (P = .004 and P = .0009, respectively). FIAC caused few toxic reactions (mild nausea and transient elevation in activity of serum aspartate aminotransferase). Thus FIAC is therapeutically superior to ara-A for the treatment of varicella-zoster virus infections in immunosuppressed subjects.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D002621:Chemistry; D002648:Child; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003561:Cytarabine / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006562:Herpes Zoster / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009325:Nausea / Q000139:chemically induced; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications; D011897:Random Allocation; D014740:Vidarabine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014839:Vomiting / Q000139:chemically induced
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D003561:Cytarabine; C026023:fiacitabine; D014740:Vidarabine