Abstract
The potential antiviral activity of 6-azauridine and 5-iododeoxyuridine was evaluated in a coordinated study at five institutions. Experimental models in five species, the mouse, rabbit, swine, cat, and ferret, were established with use of 10 viruses: Herpesvirus hominis types 1 and 2, murine cytomegalovirus, vaccinia virus, Shope fibroma virus, transmissible gastroenteritis virus, swine influenza virus, feline viral rhinotracheitis virus, feline panleukopenia virus, and ferret distemper virus. Criteria for selection were: (1) representation from a number of major groups of viruses, (2) reproduction of natural routes of infection, and (3) simulation of potentially treatable viral infections of man. Antiviral activity was observed for 5-iododeoxyuridine in H. hominis infections in hairless mice and influenza in swine, and a slight degree of efficacy was noted in rabbits infected with Shope fibroma virus. Toxicity was also observed in most of the experimental models. There was a suggestion of antiviral activity with 6-azauridine in swine infected with transmissible gastroenteritis virus; however, enhancement of disease and some toxicity were seen in most of the other models. Efficacy of these two compounds was not well substantiated by these studies.
Footnotes
This paper is publication no. 25 from the Cooperative Antiviral Testing Group of the Antiviral Substances Program, Infectious Disease Branch, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health.
This research was supported by contracts no. AI02130, no. AI-02131, no. AI-02132, no. AI-42523, and no. AI-42524 from the NIAID.
Please address requests for reprints to the Infectious Disease Branch, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Building 31, Room 7A-I0, Bethesda, Maryland 20014.