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. 1983 Sep;24(3):325–332. doi: 10.1128/aac.24.3.325

Synergistic antiviral activity of acyclovir and interferon on human cytomegalovirus.

C A Smith, B Wigdahl, F Rapp
PMCID: PMC185320  PMID: 6314891

Abstract

The efficacy of human alpha interferon (IFN-alpha) combined with 9-(2'-hydroxyethoxymethyl)guanine (acyclovir; ACV), (E)-5-(2-bromovinyl)-2'-deoxyuridine, 9-beta-D-arabinofuranosyladenine, or 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine on the inhibition of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) replication in human embryonic lung cells was analyzed by plaque reduction assays. IFN-alpha combined with 9-beta-D-arabinofuranosyladenine or 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine produced an additive antiviral activity with respect to HCMV plaque formation. IFN-alpha combined with (E)-5-(2-bromovinyl)-2'-deoxyuridine also exhibited additive antiviral activity. However, IFN-alpha combined with ACV at concentrations higher than 10 microM consistently yielded synergistic activity in HCMV plaque reduction assays. Kinetic analyses of HCMV replication demonstrated that approximately a 1,000-fold reduction can be attained through the synergistic interaction between ACV (200 microM) and IFN-alpha (42 IU/ml). These data suggest that combined ACV and IFN-alpha treatment may be useful against HCMV infection.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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