title: Acyclovir treatment of experimental genital herpes simplex virus infections. I. Topical therapy of type 2 and type 1 infections of mice.
abstract: Intravaginal inoculation of mice with herpes simplex virus (HSV) provides a model infection of genital herpes to determine the effectiveness of potential antiviral agents. topical (intravaginal) treatment with 1% or 5% acyclovir (ACV) in an ointment of gel vehicle initiated 3, 6 or 24 h after inoculation with HSV type 2, significantly inhibited viral replication in the genital tract and usually reduced final mortality. Treatment with 5% ACV initiated 48 or 72 h after infection also reduced vaginal virus titers but did not alter final mortality. When mice were inoculated with HSV type 1 treatment with 5% ACV significantly reduced viral replication in the genital tract when begun as late as 72 h. In HSV-2 infected mice, treatment initiated 3 h but not 24 h after infection prevented the establishment of latent infection in sacral ganglie. These results suggest that topical ACV may be effective antiviral agent for primary genital herpes in humans.
mesh_terms: D000212:Acyclovir / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000287:Administration, Topical; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006558:Herpes Genitalis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D018139:Simplexvirus / Q000187:drug effects; D014621:Vagina / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000212:Acyclovir